Publication:
Proxy militia strikes across the Middle East are not the only escalation that Iran has set in motion since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel—the regime has also escalated its nuclear activities at home. These nuclear strides coincide with Tehran’s sharper hardline turn in domestic politics, its growing disregard for U.S. warnings, and its increasing alignment with Russia and China, as exemplified by its surging sales of oil to Beijing and military hardware to Moscow.
In response, U.S. regional partners have been hedging their bets—Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates normalized relations with Tehran and bolstered ties with China and Russia, while Riyadh redoubled its interest in both a civil nuclear program and a U.S. defense treaty. These actions are driven at least in part by the lackluster U.S. and European responses to Iran’s escalation, including modest, uncoordinated statements about the nuclear issue and indecisive reactions to proxy militia attacks. If Iran is to be dissuaded from steaming toward nuclear weapons, Washington and its partners will need to take a firmer, more united approach.
[...]
Read the full article at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy website.