Iran is Exploiting the US Pivot Away from the Middle East
On June 6, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) unveiled what it claimed was its first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile, Fattah, adding to the largest arsenal of ballistic missiles in the region. According to Iranian state media, the hypersonic missile can travel up to 15 times the speed of sound and “bypass the most advanced anti-ballistic missile systems of the United States and the Zionist regime, including Israel’s Iron Dome.” Whether or not Iran is exaggerating Fattah’s capabilities, one thing is for certain: The regime’s advancing ballistic missile program is just one example of how Iran has exploited the United States’ so-called pivot away from the Middle East.
The same day as the Fattah announcement, the Biden administration imposed new sanctions targeting networks that support the regime’s missile programs. These sanctions are largely ineffective in altering regime behavior, little more than a slap on the wrist. Indeed, confident that Biden has all but tuned out the Middle East, Iran has accelerated its unlawful seizure of oil tankers in Gulf waters, continues to smuggle weapons to Houthi rebels that fuel the war in Yemen, is preparing to arm militants in Syria for lethal attacks against US troops, and has completely absorbed Iraq’s government via its political allies. Even Iran’s reconciliation with its Sunni Arab neighbors, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, should give the US pause. When the Iranians decide to play nice, it usually means they have something not very nice up their sleeves.
More troubling still, Iran’s advances are not just being ignored by the Biden administration—they are being rewarded. Despite the regime’s recent efforts to thwart the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) ability to surveil its enrichment activities, Biden is still obsessed with reaching a new nuclear agreement. The administration is right now mooting a deal that would unfreeze billions of dollars, making it considerably easier for Iran to pursue its malign activities.
In the midst of Russia’s war with Ukraine and accelerating geostrategic competition with China, there is certainly a case to be made for greater US attention to Europe and Asia. But that shouldn’t mean a wholesale abandonment of American values, American allies, American security, or the democratic ideals that have always justified US engagement in the Middle East. Pretending that Iran isn’t slowly dominating the region is a disaster in the making, an inadvertent consequence of Biden’s “pivot.” Because sooner or later, as Iran grows in power and influence, it might mean war in the Middle East. Again.
نوشته: Munqith Dagher