US Vice President Kamala Harris labelled Iran as the worst enemy of the United States following Tehran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel yesterday. In a CBS interview that aired last Monday night, she named Iran as the “obvious” in response to being asked for the US’s “greatest adversary.” 

She even underscored: “Iran has American blood on their hands – this attack on Israel, 200 ballistic missiles.” She emphasised that preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power is among her top priorities.

Tehran, Iran – Iran last week fired a salvo of missiles into Israeli bases around the country, claiming the attacks were in retaliation to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, as well as the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah with an Iranian general in Beirut.

The comments from Harris suggest that the Middle East is once again a salient concern for the US amid the war in Gaza. And while US officials have lately emphasised strategic competition with China, which the Pentagon has deemed a “pacing challenge”,-developments playing out in the Middle East are once again threatening to draw attention there to Iran, Israel and their sentiments toward each other.

When asked if she would use military force to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Harris would not speak hypothetically. While Iran denies that it needs to develop nuclear arms, the Iranian nuclear program continues to march on unabated.

In 2018, former US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from a multilateral agreement where Iran had capped its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Under President Joe Biden, there have been efforts to revive the deal, but negotiations with Iranian officials took work. During the efforts to restore the agreement, the Biden administration has retained what Trump implemented concerning sanctions against Iranian entities and imposed sanctions of its own.

The assassination of Haniyeh on Iranian soil in July, blamed mainly on Israel, sparked the escalation of events. After Iran’s missile strike, US officials were fast to denounce it, talking about “severe consequences.” Yet, Harris vociferously criticised Iranian missile launches, declaring, “I am clear-eyed: Iran is a destabilising, dangerous force in the Middle East, and today’s attack on Israel only further demonstrates that fact.” She has declared to arms Israel repeatedly and pointedly – looking at Iran as a threat – despite increasing criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza and Lebanon.