Moreover, the missiles of which Pompeo speaks are being used by Yemenis. The weapons may have been left over in Yemen’s armories, which came along with Yemen’s military, which was mostly loyal to Saleh rather than his successor. Anyway, after relentlessly bombing Yemeni civilians for three years, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have no complaint when missiles are shot at them in return.

Iran’s threats against international shipping look to be a deterrent against American military action, which reflects Tehran’s military weakness. If Iran was not barred from international markets, then Tehran would have reason to support open access to the seas. As for cyberattacks, who launched the Stuxnet virus against Iran? Is Pompeo prepared to agree to a ban on cyberattacks both ways?

Pompeo admitted that the list was long, but said “we didn’t create the list, they did,” since “the length of the list is simply a scope of the malign behavior of Iran.” If only that was the case.

Iran is governed by a malign regime. That country and people, and the rest of the world, will be better off when Islamist rule passes from the scene.

However, Washington helped make Iran what it is today. Having successfully constrained Tehran’s nuclear developments, the United States could have suggested supplemental negotiations over the other issues raised by Pompeo. But entering into serious talks would have required Washington’s willingness to admit fault, as well as to make serious concessions regarding U.S. threats against Iran, including support for Tehran’s adversaries.

Such a strategy would have presented the administration with fewer applause lines. But it would have offered greater hope of a peaceful solution to at least a few of the Middle East’s quarrels. And to counteract at least some of the continuing ill effects of America’s many misguided interventions in the Middle East.

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire.

Image: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies that North Korea has not responded in recent days to queries by the United States to prepare logistics for an upcoming summit during his appearance at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan