Iran needs to wake up to the dangers of its double-faced foreign policy. It cannot hope to appear as a responsible member of the world community in some situations, while at the same time send its military forces and funding to foster destabilisation in other situations. Iran risks losing all respect and international standing it may have achieved, thanks to its military adventures which are entirely of its own choosing.

When Iran talks to the US and its partners in the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), the Iranian government makes compromises, and adapts its policies in the search for a diplomatic solution to a complicated problem. Iran makes a point of saying that it always sticks to its word, and is proud of the claim that it has never violated the Nonproliferation Treaty. In this context Iran presents itself as a sophisticated member of the international community.

But the same government has interfered in the domestic politics of many of its neighbours seeking its own advantage and promoting sectarian strife. Iran has supported Hezbollah for decades doing untold damage to Lebanon. Since 2003 it has backed its own proxy militias in Iraq making the country almost ungovernable. After 2011 it sent troops to fight for Bashar Al Assad’s regime in Syria, without which the civil war would have gone very differently. It has fostered unrest in Bahrain using various Shiite groups as its proxy. It recently has blatantly supported the Al Houthi militiamen in Yemen in their bid to dominate the entire country. Iran’s blatant desire to dominate threatens its neighbours and makes a complete nonsense of its pretence to be a responsible state. Its use of violence to manipulate events cannot be allowed and should be stopped. Just as the nuclear deal makes its way to the UN Security Council for ratification, a new process should start to bring Iran to trial for its use of gross violence to foster destabilisation of the region.