In an interview with NPR on Saturday, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned that Iran is a bigger threat to the United States than the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

There have come into being a kind of a Shia-belt from Tehran through Baghdad to Beirut. And this gives Iran the opportunity to reconstruct the ancient Persian Empire, this time under a Shia label. From a geo-strategic point of view, I consider Iran a bigger problem than ISIS. ISIS is a group of adventurers with a very aggressive ideology. But they have to conquer more and more territory before they can become a geo-strategic, permanent reality. I think a conflict with ISIS – important as it is – is more manageable than a confrontation with Iran.

Despite emphasizing Iran as the greater threat, Kissinger was adamant that the United States needed to launch “a strong attack on ISIS for a period that is related to the murder of the American” and then to “set strategic objectives where we thwart any goal they set themselves.”

Kissinger’s assessment came a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) revealed that Iran had failed to meet the terms of the deal it made with agency to provide a full accounting of its previous nuclear research. The IAEA investigation into Iran’s nuclear activities has been operating in parallel to Iran’s negotiations with the P5+1 on terms of limits to its nuclear program. An extension to the deal was reached this November, which has allowed Iran to continue negotiating with the P5+1 while benefiting from relaxed sanctions.

In Dare we Say It? The Mullahs Must Go, published in the December 2013 issue of The Tower Magazine, Michael Ledeen argued that Iran was suffering from strong domestic opposition, despite the regime’s ability to project its power:

Khamenei knows that the greatest threat to his power comes from the Iranian people, who despise him and want to be free of his regime. They have long experience with self-government, they are the best-educated people in the Middle East this side of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and they are willing to fight. We should help them.

[Photo: Chuck Hagel / Flickr ]