Intel Chief Agrees With GOP: Iran 'Foremost Sponsor' of Terrorism

By Melanie Batley

Iran and Hezbollah are threats to the United States, said Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Clapper said in a letter to Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee that Iran and Hezbollah "directly threaten the interests of the United States and our allies," and that the intelligence community considers Iran to be the "foremost state sponsor of terrorism."
The assessment came after criticism from the Senate that the information was omitted in a global threat assessment submitted to Congress earlier this year. Initially, Iran and Hezbollah were not included as terror threats in the intelligence community's report to the Senate in February.            

Clapper mentioned destabilizing behavior by Iran and Hezbollah across the Middle East, the Journal said, including their moves to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The letter also pointed out that Iran has supported Houthis in Yemen, while the U.S. supports the Saudi-led military coalition aimed at putting Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi back in power.

Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers have expressed concerns that the U.S. is becoming too close to Iran as the nuclear negotiations press on toward the June 30 deadline.

The Obama administration has repeatedly emphasized that it is concerned about Iran's destabilizing behavior in the Middle East, the Journal reported.