I agree with that premis but disagree with your wording.

It is important that we contain Iranian adventures in the region but there is no reason Iran must do the things you said. We can provide incentives and deterrents but there effectiveness is limited. We seen to me inducing them to take a harder line not a softer one.

Using Saudi Arabia and Israel as our proxies in the region and our continued presence in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan make us look like the aggressor and the Iranian response as mild.

When a weak power is confronted by a much superior power it is normal to resort to terrorism/asymmetrical tactics. ie. Palestinians throw rocks at Israeli soldiers and launch clumsy rockets across the border. Iran arms terrorists in many countries and launches small covert ops.

TEK