Currently, Washington's many policy initiatives seem to point this way. The US, for example, is committed to offering $30 billion in military aid to Israel from 2009 to 2018. And it is still trying to settle the Iran nuclear issue through a diplomatic and political framework.

Third, the last resort is a military strike against Iran.

Although the other two options seem more realistic and safer, they need time and patience to realize.

But as diplomatic and political solutions to resolve the stand-off seems to be going nowhere, the possibility of a military attack is on the rise.

And even if Washington is to fully adopt the containment policy, it may still resort to a military strike to debilitate Teheran's military power.

The author is deputy director of the Institute of Security and Strategy under China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations The article first appeared in the journal Peace and Development

(China Daily April 10, 2008)