An Iranian ballistic missile. Photo: Screenshot from YouTube.

With the Iranian nuclear deal secure, the country’s leaders in Tehran have once again embarked on an openly aggressive foreign policy.

Aside from escalating the war in Syria and renewing hostilities with Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Republic has recently test-fired a number of medium- and long-range missiles that are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Reportedly, the missiles were inscribed with the message, “Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth.”

In addition, Iran recently launched a new long-range rocket in clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which stipulates that Iran is “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”

Furthermore, the FBI recently arrested the American head of a New York-based metallurgy company on charges of illegally exporting a half-ton of cobalt-nickel powder to Iran. This powder can be used in the production of nuclear-tipped rockets.

And now, many Iranian officials are vocally calling for a more aggressive foreign policy. For instance, Parliament member Ahmad Tavakoli said that “some of the [Rouhani] government officials have finally realized that seeing the Nuclear Deal as a ‘miracle’ was ill-advised. Now that they have come to see the truth, we must take it as a good sign.”

Hamid-Reza Taraqqi, a member of Mo’talefeh, the powerful bazaar-based wing of the Iranian regime, said that “the Islamic Republic has followed a ‘passive’ foreign policy, has not acted in a ‘revolutionary way,’ and lacks an ‘aggressive stance.’” He added that “the Rouhani government’s ‘passive’ approach comes in spite of the Supreme Leader’s frequently emphasizing the need for adopting a ‘revolutionary line’ in foreign policy… To act in a revolutionary manner means to take an offensive stance.”

Iranian officials have been wasting no time in praising and promoting the Supreme Leader’s aggressive stance. For example, Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of the Supreme Leader’s office, said that “Whenever we hit an impasse and all the roads become shut before us, and when the government officials are at a loss as what to do, it is the capable hand of the Supreme Leader that takes them by their hands and opens the way.”

Evidently, the Ayatollah’s “Heroic Flexibility” has finally come to an end. Curiously, there seems to be a hidden link between the Ayatollah’s and Kim Jong Un’s accelerating ballistic/nuclear threats. In the end, what remains is a world community divided over the shadow of a deal with a rogue regime that seems to be fast falling apart. Apparently, the much-touted nuclear deal has not made the world a safer and more orderly place. To the contrary, each day that passes it is pushing the world to the brink of mayhem.

This article was originally published by Jerusalem Online.