Mattis: Trump tweet made clear Iran is ‘on the wrong track’

President Trump’s unexpected threat against Iran earlier this week was meant to make clear to Tehran “that they’re on the wrong track,” Defense Secretary James Mattis said Tuesday.

“I think what we have to look at is the destabilizing influence that Iran has consistently displayed and demonstrated throughout the region,” Mattis said at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, Calif.

Trump late Sunday surprised many when he issued an all-caps tweet directed at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018

Mattis said he believes “the president was making very clear that they’re on the wrong track.” 

{mosads}“The only reason that the murderer [Syrian President Bashar] Assad is still in power — the primary reason — is because Iran has stuck by him, reinforced him, funded him,” said Mattis, who was in California to meet with Australian officials along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“We see the same kind of malfeasance down in Yemen where they’re fomenting more violence down there. We’ve seen their disruptive capabilities demonstrated from Bahrain to the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia], and it’s time for Iran to shape up and show responsibility as a responsible nation.”

Iran has supported Houthi rebels against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in a conflict that’s been going on for three years. The United States has also been supporting the Saudi campaign.

Mattis added: “[Iran] cannot continue to show irresponsibility as some revolutionary organization that is intent on exporting terrorism, exporting disruption across the region.”

Neither Mattis nor Pentagon spokespeople have said whether the military would be adjusting its forces in the region to deal with any fallout from Trump’s tweet, including bolstering protections.

Pentagon spokeswoman Rebecca Rebarich told The Hill Monday that U.S. forces “are more than capable at defending themselves should the need arise.”

Trump did not address his Sunday tweet during a Tuesday speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention.

The commander in chief did, however, tout his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal.