Did the admirals stop a push for war against Iran?

Possibly, if you believe this story:

Fallon's refusal to support a further naval buildup in the Gulf reflected his firm opposition to an attack on Iran and an apparent readiness to put his career on the line to prevent it. A source who met privately with Fallon around the time of his confirmation hearing and who insists on anonymity quoted Fallon as saying that an attack on Iran "will not happen on my watch".

Asked how he could be sure, the source says, Fallon replied, "You know what choices I have. I'm a professional." Fallon said that he was not alone, according to the source, adding, "There are several of us trying to put the crazies back in the box."

The crazies would undoubtedly include this guy:

We must attack Iran before it gets the bomb

A nuclear Iran would be as dangerous as “Hitler marching into the Rhineland” in 1936 and should be prevented by Western military strikes if necessary, according to a leading hawk who recently left the Bush administration.

In the article, Bolton snipes at Tony Blair for attempting diplomacy with the Iranians and complains that Condoleeza Rice has fallen under the spell of the State Department like Colin Powell before her.

His animus towards the State Department building in Foggy Bottom can seem is only a shade less acute. Bolton sees himself as a warrior fighting the kind of bureaucratic inertia and group think which, he laments, has now taken hold of the Bush administration.

h/t ThinkProgress, Mvdg