Slap sanctions on Tehran for missile programme

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has been in the spotlight lately for all the wrong reasons. She’s a hawk on American policy like her boss President Donald Trump but has blundered when things should have been left as they are, like in Jerusalem. With the US failing Palestine and striking discordant notes across the world, Washington faces diplomatic fire at the UN and in capitals. But on Iran, Haley has been more consistent, and correct. The regime is the root cause of instability and strife in the Middle East. In fact, Tehran is fanning conflict using all means at its disposal, including playing the sectarian card in a bid to unsettle the Gulf countries. The ploy is not working and the Arab coalition is making them pay a heavy price for their misadventure in Yemen. The proxy war that Iran has unleashed in the region is now full blown. In some cases like in Lebanon, it’s open. Hezbollah, which Tehran backed since the 80s against the Israelis, has even become a potent political force in the tiny country. Iran has has tried to do the same in Yemen through the Houthis rebels, but has been beaten back.

Desperate, it has upped the ante and is now using its proxy to spread the conflict away from Yemen and into the wider region — an act of war as Saudi Arabia put it. Two missiles from Yemen have been shot down over Saudi Arabia recently, the latest being on Tuesday. The missiles had Iranian markings that were confirmed by both the US and the UN. Iran’s nuclear capabilities have been rolled back following the deal in 2015. Sanctions have since been lifted which has enabled the regime to indulge in conventional ‘acts of war’. Its missile programme has progressed at a fast clip with 23 launches being reported while it continues to export its brand of revolutionary terror with gusto. That must be stopped and it’s important to reimpose sanctions to prevent missiles and weapons proliferation. Tehran took the world for a ride with the nuclear deal and it’s now striving for conventional weapons superiority, which is a clear and present danger that the world can ignore at its peril.