On January 30, a suicide boat packed with explosives plowed into a Saudi frigate on patrol near the Bab al Mandab Strait, a strategic location that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. At least two Saudi sailors were killed and three wounded in the carnage. The attackers were Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who receive arms, training and logistical support from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

During the attack, which was video-taped, an unidentified man tasked with narrating the violence was heard shouting the obligatory, “_Allahuakbar_” as well as the other perfunctory banalities including “death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory for Islam.” The Houthis, who are Shia, share the same belief system as their kinsmen in Iran demonstrating once again that neither Sunni nor Shia possess a monopoly over xenophobia and blind hatred.

More ominously, the Pentagon now believes that the attackers thought that they were hitting a U.S. Navy warship. The terrorists were hoping to mimic the al-Qaeda orchestrated attack on the USS Cole, the guided missile frigate that was struck by a suicide boat while being refueled in Yemen’s Aden harbor. Seventeen American service members were killed and another 39 were wounded in that act of terrorism.

This would not be the first time that the Houthis attacked U.S. forces in theater. In October 2016, Houthi forces – likely with IRGC assistance – fired missiles at the USS Mason, which were either intercepted by the warship’s SM-2 point-defense missile system or simply fell short of their target. In retaliation, the USS Nitze destroyed at least three Houthi radar sites with Tomhawk cruise missiles. In August 2016, the Nitze was harried by a number of IRGC speed boats while it was on routine transit near the Strait of Hormuz, forcing the warship to alter course.

Iran routinely employs its proxy forces to carry out its dirty work. This enables the Islamic Republic to maintain at least one degree of separation from the actual attack. It has employed Hezbollah to do its bidding in Syria propping up the brutal warlord, Bashar Assad, has utilized the Shia KSS militia in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen. Other Iranian mercenary forces have been recruited from the killing fields of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The financing for paying, arming, feeding and clothing these mercenary gangsters is partly derived from Obama’s gift to the Islamic Republic of $150 billion in sanctions relief as well as billions in unmarked cash granted to the Islamic Republic and surreptitiously sent via chartered aircraft. The legality of some of these cash transactions remains questionable, particularly the 1.7 billion dollar ransom payment conducted last year.

While the Houthis conduct some local operations autonomously, without IRGC approval, it is a virtual certainty that Houthi attacks mounted against U.S. forces are carefully planned and coordinated with the IRGC. Thus the missile attacks conducted in October against the Mason and the suicide bombing carried out against the Saudi frigate were almost certainly orchestrated by IRGC.

Monday’s attack comes on the heels of an Iranian ballistic missile launch on Sunday in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231. Though the Iranians have conducted other such test-firings, this is the first since Donald Trump assumed the presidency.

Clearly, the Iranians are testing the resolve of America’s new president. The missile launch and the Bab al Mandab attack represent probing actions to gauge Trump’s reactions. If left unanswered, the harassment of U.S. forces and violations of international agreements and UNSC resolutions will only intensify.

The ruthless theocratic government of Iran has five objectives. The first of course, is self-preservation by brutally subjugating the population. We witnessed the perniciousness of the regime when it unleashed its Basij paramilitary thugs and security forces on the population during the Green Revolution of 2009.

The regime’s second objective is to export its brand of radical Shia Islam and expand its hegemony. This objective is in line with the regime’s imperialistic nature. Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Gaza and Iraq have already fallen into Iran’s sphere of influence. The regime is also attempting to make inroads into Afghanistan and has been transferring Shia Muslims from Lebanon and Iraq to Syria in an effort to alter Syria’s demographic balance, which currently favors the Sunnis.

A third objective is to gain control over the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al Mandab Strait, two key Middle East chokepoints and home to much of the world’s maritime traffic. Fourth, the Iranians want unfettered access to the Eastern Mediterranean and can only accomplish this aim if they control Syria.

Lastly, the Islamic Republic seeks to become a nuclear power. The regime already possesses a formidable arsenal of long-range ballistic missiles and knows that its acquisition of nuclear weapons would be a game-changer and significantly shield it from serious internal and external challenge. To place this in perspective, just imagine what the Gulf Wars would have looked like had Israel not transformed Saddam’s nuclear bomb-making facility at Osirak into an expensive heap of scrap metal.

There are currently only two nations – the United States and Israel – with the military capability and fortitude to challenge the Iranian malignancy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to meet with Trump at the White House on February 15. That Trump would invite Netanyahu so soon after his inauguration demonstrates the importance he attaches to the U.S.-Israel alliance. Clearly, the two, who view the Iran Deal with disdain, have much to discuss and there is no doubt that the Islamic Republic will be at the top of the agenda.