Threat Perception

Iran's leaders are apparently motivated, at least to some extent, by the perception of threats to their regime and their national interests posed by the United States and its allies. Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i, Iran's paramount decisionmaker since 1989, has repeatedly stated that the United States seeks to overturn Iran's regime through support for anti-regime activists, economic sanctions, and alliances with Iran's regional adversaries. Even though Iranian leaders accuse U.S. allies of contributing to U.S. efforts to structure the Middle East to its advantage, Iranian officials have sought to engage with historic U.S. allies, such as Turkey, to try to thwart international sanctions and consolidate Iran's position in Syria. He and leaders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military and internal security force created after the Islamic revolution, consistently support regional interventions, even when doing so earns international criticism. More moderate Iranian leaders, including President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, argue that Iran should not have any "permanent enemies." Instruments of Iran's National Security Strategy

Iran employs a number of different methods and mechanisms to implement its foreign policy. The State Department report on international terrorism for 2017 stated that Iran remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2017, and continued to provide arms, training, and military advisers in support of allied governments and movements, such as the regime of President Bashar Al Asad of Syria, Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups, Houthi rebels in Yemen, Shia militias in Iraq, and underground violent groups in Bahrain. Other Political Action/Cyberattacks

Iran's national security is not limited to militarily supporting allies and armed factions. The Administration insisted that U.S. allies address Iran's "malign activities" in the region. On May 8, 2018, President Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA and announced that all U.S. sanctions would be reimposed by November 4, 2018. At the more tactical level, Iran is acquiring, developing, and exporting short-range ballistic and cruise missiles that Iran's forces can use and/or transfer to regional allies and proxies to protect them and to enhance Iran's ability to project power. Countering Iran's Malign Activities

The Trump Administration has articulated a multilayered strategy to try to counter Iran's malign activities and "roll back" Iranian influence in the region. Threatening Military Action. The mutual animosity has aggravated regional sectarian tensions and caused escalations of the region's various conflicts. Saudi Arabia . Hezbollah's leadership asserted that it was victorious in that war for holding out against Israel. Russia

Iran attaches significant weight to its relations with Russia—a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, a supplier of arms to Iran, a party to the JCPOA, and a key supporter of the Asad regime.
Iran's national security policy is the product of many overlapping and sometimes competing factors such as the ideology of Iran's Islamic revolution, perception of threats to the regime and to the country, long-standing national interests, and the interaction of the Iranian regime's factions and constituencies. Iran's leadership:
Seeks to deter or thwart U.S. or other efforts to invade or intimidate Iran or to bring about a change of regime. Has sought to take advantage of opportunities of regional conflicts to overturn a power structure in the Middle East that it asserts favors the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Sunni Muslim Arab regimes. Seeks to enhance its international prestige and restore a sense of "greatness" reminiscent of ancient Persian empires. Advances its foreign policy goals, in part by providing material support to regional allied governments and armed factions. Iranian officials characterize the support as helping the region's "oppressed" and assert that Saudi Arabia, in particular, is instigating sectarian tensions and trying to exclude Iran from regional affairs. Sometimes disagrees on tactics and strategies. Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i and key hardline institutions, such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), oppose any compromises of Iran's national security core goals. Iran's elected president, Hassan Rouhani, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif support Iran's integration into regional and international diplomacy. Supports acts of international terrorism, as the "leading" or "most active" state sponsor of terrorism, according to each annual State Department report on international terrorism since the early 1990s.
The Administration insists that an end to Iran's malign activities is a requirement of any revised JCPOA and normalization of relations with the United States. The Trump Administration has articulated a strategy to counter Iran's "malign activities" based on:
Applying "maximum pressure" on Iran's economy and regime through sanctions. President Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018, and reimposed all U.S. sanctions as of November 5, 2018. Attempting to diplomatically, politically, and economically isolate Iran. Training, arming, and providing counterterrorism assistance to partner governments and some allied substate actors in the region. Deploying U.S. forces to deter Iran and interdict its arms shipments to its allies and proxies. Indirectly threatening military action against Iranian actions that pose an immediate threat to U.S. regional interests or allies.