The Trump administration on Wednesday fired a warning shot at a perennial adversary, declaring that it was “putting Iran on notice” after a recent ballistic missile launch, and threatening the Iranian government with unspecified reprisals.
“As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice,” said Michael T. Flynn, the national security adviser, making his debut in the White House briefing room to read a terse statement that was almost as critical of the Obama administration as it was of Iran.
“The Trump administration condemns such actions by Iran that undermine security, prosperity and stability throughout and beyond the Middle East, and place American lives at risk,” he declared.
Flynn said the missile test was the latest in a series of provocative actions by Iran and violated a United Nations Security Council resolution restricting its ballistic missile programme — something the Iranians deny. Flynn did not specify how the United States would respond, although other officials have said the White House is weighing sanctions and other measures to counter Iranian initiatives throughout the Middle East and the Gulf.
His blunt tone — and lack of specifics — offered an early sign of how President Donald Trump plans to deal with Iran: pushing back against Tehran on multiple fronts and leaving all options, including military action, on the table.
Flynn singled out Iran’s support for Al Houthi rebels in Yemen, who recently attacked a Saudi naval vessel.
To that end, Defence Department officials said they have been directed to explore ways the United States can challenge Iran in Yemen, where Al Houthis have been battling Saudi Arabia and other US allies.
“In these and other similar activities,” Flynn said, “Iran continues to threaten US friends and allies in the region.”
At a subsequent official briefing, a senior administration official said the White House was considering a range of options — and he did not rule out military force. But he also said the administration, in its second week, did not want to be premature or rash in how it confronted Tehran.
The challenge for the administration in contemplating economic pressure is that it would be all but impossible to reassemble the international coalition that imposed draconian sanctions on Iran’s oil and banking industries — and drew Iran into negotiations that resulted in the agreement limiting its nuclear programme.
Flynn pinned much of the blame for Iran’s aggressiveness on former President Barack Obama, saying his administration “failed to respond adequately to Tehran’s malign actions — including weapons transfers, support for terrorism and other violations of international norms.”
He also noted that Trump had criticised agreements between Iran and the Obama administration as “weak and ineffective.” In the campaign, Trump spoke of ripping up the Iran nuclear agreement, though his aides now say their focus is less on abrogating that deal than on constraining Iran’s behaviour in the region.
In Yemen, for example, the Pentagon is considering stepped-up patrols and perhaps even air strikes, aimed at preventing Iranian weapons from getting to Al Houthis. In addition, Saudi officials are pushing for more support for their air campaign in Yemen, an administration official said. But officials said Wednesday that there had been no change in the military’s posture.
While the Obama administration targeted Al Houthis and conducted air strikes against forces aligned with Al Qaida in Yemen, current and former officials say Obama was wary of deepening US support for the Saudi air campaign because of concerns about the accuracy of targeting and the large number of civilian casualties.
“Obama said all the time, ‘Aim before you shoot,’” said Derek Chollet, who served in the White House, Pentagon and State Department during the Obama administration. “Anytime there was one of these heated discussions, and people said, ‘We’ve got to do something,’ he said, ‘OK, what does the intelligence say, and where will this take us?’”
The Trump administration, however, said it would continue to criticise and draw distinctions with its predecessor.
“This president is seeking to make the country safer, stronger, more prosperous,” said the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. “I think the president, when it comes — came — to the Iran nuclear deal, was very, very adamant in his opposition to the deal and to its implications.”
Flynn’s tough words left some Iran analysts troubled.
Cliff Kupchan, a political risk analyst at the Eurasia Group in Washington, said the tone was “very worrisome.” He and others also questioned how Iran’s missile test had violated the Security Council resolution in question, in which Iran is “called upon” to refrain from missile tests but is not forbidden to conduct them.
“It’s all Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller right now,” Kupchan said in an email, referring to the national security adviser and two other hard-line Trump aides. “The ‘revolutionaries’ are running the Trump administration.”
Other analysts, however, said the stiffer tone was overdue.
“It was very sensible for the administration to early on warn Iran of its malign activities,” said Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “The fact is that Iran is probably testing the administration to see if there is any pushback. Over the past few years they have not been given too many stern warnings.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran confirmed that it had recently conducted a missile test, but it rejected accusations that the launch had violated a Security Council resolution.
The confirmation by the Iranian defence minister, Hossain Dehghan, was the first by an official there since the country was accused of violating the 2015 resolution because the test involved a ballistic missile that could theoretically carry a nuclear warhead.
His remarks came a day after President Hassan Rouhani disparaged Trump for his order barring refugees, as well as citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries including Iran.
“Banning visas for other nations is the act of newcomers to the political scene,” Rouhani said.
Dehghan emphasised that the missile test did not, in Iran’s view, violate the resolution, nor the 2015 nuclear agreement that preceded it. No country will be allowed to interfere in Iranian domestic affairs, he said, adding that tests would definitely continue.
“Our nation has tested itself in this path,” Dehghan said.
The United States called an urgent meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday to discuss the matter.
“You’re going to see us call them out as we said we would, and you are also going to see us act accordingly,” Nikki R. Haley, the new US ambassador to the United Nations, said on Tuesday.
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