When the administration set out to sell the Iran deal, it recognized that regional allies would have to be reassured that the United States would not stand idly by and allow Iran to wreak havoc in the region. In May 2015, President Obama invited Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders for a summit at Camp David, where he pledged that the U.S. would stand by its GCC partners in the face of Iran’s “destabilizing activities in the region.”

But Iran’s aggressive tactics continued unabated, so the president reiterated his commitment eight months later, saying, “We remain steadfast in opposing Iran’s destabilizing behavior, including against Israel and our Gulf partners and its support for violent proxies in places like Syria and Yemen.” But it is now clear, one year since the signing of the Iran deal, that Iran’s threatening and destabilizing behavior in the region has not diminished. In the words of CENTCOM Commander Gen. Joseph L. Votel, Iran has become “more aggressive in the days since the agreement.” Iran’s involvement in the Syrian, Iraqi and Yemeni conflicts “deepened” in 2015, according to the Director of National Intelligence.

The DNI went further still: “Iran — the foremost state sponsor of terrorism — continues to exert its influence in regional crises in the Middle East through the International Revolutionary Guard Corps—Qods Force (IRGC-QF), its terrorist partner Lebanese Hezbollah, and proxy groups. It also provides military and economic aid to its allies in the region. Iran and Hezbollah remain a continuing terrorist threat to U.S. interests and partners worldwide.”

Read the full article at The Hill.