Iran is known for using its terrorist proxies to do its dirty work. US-UK strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen do not seem to have affected that group’s appetite for harassing shipping in the Red Sea. Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to threaten Israel’s northern border, although it does not appear minded to risk a full-blown war. Tehran has denied prior knowledge of Hamas’s October 7 pogrom, but it has attempted to use Jerusalem’s necessary military response to inflame tensions in the region, including via the militias it supports in Iraq and Syria.

Atom symbol and Iran flag.

Earlier this week, however, Iran launched direct strikes on what it claimed were “militants” on Pakistani territory. Pakistan reacted with fury and retaliated by hitting “terrorist hideouts” within Iran. Some analysts suggested that the tit-for-tat response would allow for tensions to cool. The coming days will show whether that is excessively optimistic.

Pakistan is a nuclear-armed state, while Iran holds ambitions to be the same. Various international efforts have been made to ensure that the ayatollahs do not get the bomb – including Barack Obama’s naive nuclear deal. Donald Trump abandoned that treaty, returning to a policy of heavy sanctions and strikes against Iranian terrorist assets. Joe Biden has sought to revive the agreement but has got nowhere.

The events of recent weeks ought to be proof enough that Iran should never be allowed to secure nuclear weapons. It has already shown itself to be a threat to the peace and stability of the Middle East, and an enemy of the West and its allies. Mere warnings are unlikely to be sufficient to persuade it to abandon its current dangerous path.