|
Trending Topics
|
A Year After Nuclear Deal, U.S. Confronts New Iran Challenges
(New York Times) David E. Sanger - A year after he struck the outlines of a nuclear deal with Iran, Secretary of State John Kerry finds himself confronting a new challenge from Tehran: While it is observing the nuclear agreement to the letter, its missile launches, arms shipments to Yemen and involvement in Syria have, if anything, accelerated. Kerry arrived in Bahrain for a meeting of the Arab states this week to reassure them with an array of plans for new missile and cyberdefenses. Instead, he found himself disputing the argument that Tehran today is "as dangerous as ever." His hosts at the Gulf Cooperation Council echoed the concern on Thursday that, even with the nuclear threat off the table, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps seemed to be active everywhere. "The missile program is moving forward with full support from the top of the leadership of the Islamic Republic, and we are seeing the hegemonic interventions" by Tehran "continuing unabated," said Bahrain Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa. On Thursday, Kerry was briefed at the U.S. Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain on four interceptions in recent months of Iranian shipments of small arms headed to Yemen.