Speaking on condition of anonymity, British military sources told the British magazine The New Statesman Monday that the U.S. military "switched its whole focus to Iran" after Saddam Hussein was toppled in Iraq.
"I don't see Americans as having the political will to attempt some sort of military action against Iran. I have a feeling that a military resolution of the Iranian nuclear problem is unlikely," Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of parliament's upper house, told RIA Novosti.
Iran has been under international pressure since it resumed uranium enrichment in January 2006, which some Western countries suspect is part of a covert nuclear weapons program. Tehran says it needs nuclear power for energy.
Margelov headed a Federation Council delegation during a visit to Tehran February 19-21.
According to the senator, during his last trip to Washington in February, he saw for himself that the U.S. political elite is split regarding Iran.
He added that the reinforcement of U.S. military might in the Gulf region should be understood "as part of the national American mood to increase its presence in the region, including to put political pressure on Iran."
"Any forceful American action against Iran would mean the premature political death of U.S. President Bush," Margelov said, adding that the U.S. Congress would not approve a new war.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in December imposing sanctions against Iran.
Russia, a key economic partner of Iran, has consistently supported the Islamic Republic's right to nuclear power under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and has resisted the imposition of harsh sanctions.
Russia is building a nuclear power plant in Bushehr in southern Iran, a project worth $1 billion, on a contract signed in 1995.
