Tillerson accuses Tehran of 'alarming provocations' as US reviews policy

The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has accused Iran of “alarming ongoing provocations’ to destabilise countries in the Middle East as the Trump administration launched a review of its policy towards Tehran.

Tillerson said the review, which he announced on Tuesday, would not only look at Tehran’s compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal but also its behaviour in the region which he said undermined US interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

"An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and to take the world along with it," Tillerson said.

His tough words matched those of US defense secretary James Mattis, who said in a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that Iran’s destabilising influence would have to be overcome to end the conflict in Yemen.

US President Donald Trump ordered the review to evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to the nuclear deal was “vital to the national security interests of the United States”, Tillerson said.

Iran has repeatedly denied accusations by the West that it was ever trying to develop nuclear weapons.

In a letter to US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan released late on Tuesday, Tillerson declared that Iran was meeting its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal but there were concerns about Tehran’s role as a state sponsor of terrorism.

“A comprehensive Iran policy requires we address all of the threats posed by Iran and it is clear there are many,” Tillerson told reporters in Washington.

Tillerson said the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers failed “to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran and only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state”.

Iran has yet to comment on the Trump administration’s review, but Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned in November that Tehran would retaliate if the United States breached the nuclear agreement.