Iran is moving from a regional threat to a global problem

WASHINGTON — The United States and its allies are beginning to view Iran as a global threat, warning that its deepening alliance with Russia, including aid in the war with Ukraine, means Tehran’s destabilizing activities represent greater danger than before.
“We have reached the point where threats from Iran do not just affect the Middle East, but are a global problem,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Dana Strowl told reporters.
Srowl pointed to the expansion of military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, and, in particular, Iran’s supply of suicide drones to the Russian military.
The Pentagon chief’s aide called for a “global coalition to combat the malicious cooperation between Iran and Russia.”
“It is reasonable to assume that the tactics, methods and procedures that Iran is studying and perfecting in Ukraine will one day be used against our partners in the Middle East,” she said.
Srowl said the United States is expanding cooperation and intelligence sharing with partners in the region “to ensure we are prepared to counter these threats.”
Strowl is not the first senior US official to sound the alarm over Iran’s alliance with Russia.
On Sunday, CIA Director William Burns called the growing relationship between Tehran and Moscow “troubling”.
“Things are moving pretty quickly right now and in a very dangerous direction,” Burns said in an interview with CBS’s Face the Country.
“We know that the Iranians have already delivered hundreds of armed drones to Russia. We know that they provided ammunition for the artillery and for the tanks,” he said, adding that there are indications that Moscow could supply Russian-made fighter jets to Iran or even help Tehran with its ballistic missile program.
Iran denies drone deliveries to Russia.
Acknowledging Iran as a “global problem” seems to deviate from the language the US intelligence community has only been using for the past year.
“Iran will remain a regional threat with extensive malign influence activity,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s annual Global Threat Assessment Report states.