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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 13, 2017, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The new U.S. policy towards Iran includes regime change, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Tillerson was asked on Wednesday whether the United States supports regime change inside Iran. He replied in the affirmative, saying that U.S. policy is driven by relying on elements inside of Iran to bring about peaceful transition of that government.

He made the comments in a hearing on the 2018 State Department budget before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) asked Tillerson about U.S. policy towards Iran, including whether the U.S. government would sanction the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and whether the U.S. supported a philosophy of regime change.

They are doing bad things throughout the world, on behalf of terrorism and destroying human rights of many people, Poe said, referring to the IRGC. Id like to know what the policy is of the U.S. toward Iran. Do we support the current regime? Do we support a philosophy of regime change, peaceful regime change? There are Iranians in exile all over the world. Some are here. And then theres Iranians in Iran who dont support the totalitarian state. So is the U.S. position to leave things as they are or set up a peaceful long-term regime change?

Well our Iranian policy is under development, Tillerson replied. Its not yet been delivered to the president, but I would tell you that we certainly recognize Irans continued destabilizing presence in the region, their payment of foreign fighters, their export of militia forces in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, their support for Hezbollah. And we are taking action to respond to Irans hegemony. Additional sanctions actions have been put in place against individuals and others.

We continually review the merits both from the standpoint of diplomatic but also international consequences of designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in its entirety as a terrorist organization, he added. As you know, we have designated the Quds [Force]. Our policy towards Iran is to push back on this hegemony, contain their ability to develop obviously nuclear weapons, and to work toward support of those elements inside of Iran that would lead to a peaceful transition of that government. Those elements are there, certainly as we know.

Trumps foreign policy team is filled with hawks on Iran, but Tillerson is the first administration official to advocate for regime change in his official capacity.

The Iranian government was quick to condemn Tillersons remarks. On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi called Tillersons comments interventionist, in gross violation of the compelling rules of international law, unacceptable and strongly condemned.

Since the 1950s, the United States tried to meddle in Iranian affairs by different strategies such as coup dtat, regime change, and military intervention. Qassemi said, referring to U.S. involvement in the 1953 coup in Iran, dubbed Operation AJAX by the CIA. These efforts have all failed, Qassemi said, adding that the new U.S. government was confused and could be easily manipulated by wrong information.

Tillersons focus on nuclear weapons in his comments on Wednesday are notable, given that he has previously acknowledged that Iran is in full compliance with the Iranian nuclear agreement (as has the International Atomic Energy Agency).

Last week, Iran suffered an attack claimed by the Islamic State that killed at least 17 people and injured dozens. The White House response implied that Iran deserved the attack. We grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times, the statement read. We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.

The next day, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), a vocal Trump supporter, praised the attack in Tehran and suggested that the United States should work with the Islamic State to counter Iran.

On Thursday, the Senate passed an Iran sanctions bill, despite former Secretary of State John Kerrys warning that new sanctions could threaten the Iranian nuclear agreement.

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Tillerson calls for regime change in Iran - ThinkProgress

Congress is seeking new authorities that would enable it to expose and crack down on an Iranian state-controlled commercial airline known for transporting weapons and terrorist fighters to hotspots such as Syria, where Iranian-backed forces have begun launching direct attacks on U.S. forces in the country, according to new legislation obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Congressional efforts to expose Iran's illicit terror networks more forcefully come as U.S. and European air carriers such as Boeing and AirBus move forward with multi-billion dollar deals to provide the Islamic Republic with a fleet of new airplanes, which lawmakers suspect Iran will use to amplify its terror operations.

The new sanction legislation targets Iran's Mahan Airlines, which operates commercial flights across the globe while transporting militants and weapons to fighters in Syria, Yemen, and other regional hotspots.

Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon.

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Congress seeks embargo on Iran airline linked to terrorism as Tehran targets US forces - Fox News

New York Times

Finding Bravado, and Worry, at an Iranian Shrine Where ISIS Struck New York Times I would sit on the thick red carpets with visitors from across Iran and beyond, talking with them about the war in Syria, the latest soap operas and coming elections. Sometimes officials would ask me who I was, only to offer tea and let me be. Despite ... Iran: Island of peace in ocean of troubles?Anadolu Agency Attacks in Iran show Tehran's chickens coming home to roostThe Hill (blog) Iran accuses Saudis of supporting terrorist groupsAljazeera.com Al-Monitor -Reuters -Press TV -Farsnews all 190 news articles »

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Finding Bravado, and Worry, at an Iranian Shrine Where ISIS Struck - New York Times

Last week ISIS staged an unprecedented terrorist attack in the heart of Iran. At least 17 people were killed and dozens more were injured at two symbolic locations of the Islamic Republic: the parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini.

The reaction from Irans clerical rulers was predictable; they variously blamed their regional and international enemies the USA, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Ignored by Iranian officials and by most expert commentators, however, was any recognition that Tehrans domestic and regional policies were contributing factors. In other words, the expansion of ISIS into Iran was a classic case of Iranian regime blowback.

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The conventional wisdom suggests that Iran would remain immune to ISIS as a global terrorist threat. Given Irans majority Shia population and the fact that ISIS is a deeply anti-Shia cult informed by an extremist Sunni neo-Wahhabism, it has been widely assumed that Iranian recruits to ISIS would be difficult to find.

A gunman is seen entering Iranian parliament building in a still image taken from close circuit television (CCTV), taken on June 7, 2017, in Tehran, Iran. IRIB/Handout via Reuters

We now know that Iranian Kurds were behind the ISIS attack in Tehran. The reasons are broadly similar to what we have learned about the politics and psychology of Islamic radicalization. Marginalized, angry and alienated populations exposed to salafi ideology are susceptible to ISIS recruitment.

Approximately eight percent of Irans population is Sunni, mainly representing Arab, Baluchi, Turkmen and Kurdish minorities. They live on Irans periphery and suffer disproportionately from unemployment and discrimination.

Credible reporting suggests that a small number from these groups have joined ISIS due to the same socio-economic push and pull factors that drives ISIS recruitment worldwide. According to the distinguished Iranian journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, the border towns and villages and tribes along Irans east, west and southern borders are poor and vulnerable to extremism.

This has produced social conditions where young unemployed men can be wooed and recruited. In other words, Iran now has a homegrown terrorist problem of its own. Its regional foreign policy has also been a contributing factor.

ISIS has a genocidal view toward Shia Muslims. Partly because of this, Iran and its proxies are fighting ISIS on various battlefields across the Middle East. At the same time, Irans sectarian foreign policy has indirectly contributed to the rise ISIS.

In Iraq, Tehrans critical support for Shia majoritarianism significantly contributed to Sunni marginalization, indirectly amplifying the ideological appeal of ISIS. Then there is Syria.

When the Arab Spring protests reached Syria in 2011, ISIS didnt exist. Peaceful protesters chanting non-sectarian slogans were confronting the 41-year rule of the House of Assad. From the outset, they were met with state-sanctioned repression that rapidly extended to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Gradually, the uprising militarized and then radicalized as regional actors entered the fray. The subsequent melee is responsible for the worst refugee crisis of the 21 st century and for killing nearly half a million people.

The Assad regime backed by Iran (and Russia) bears the lions share of responsibility for this state of affairs. It is from the killing fields of Syria that the ISIS variant of salafi-jihadism arose and expanded.

Today, Iran justifies it support for Assad by claiming it is fighting ISIS and Al Qaeda. In doing so, however, it conveniently reads the Syrian conflict backward instead of forward.

From the inception of the conflict, and prior to the rise of salafi-jihadism in Syria, Iran strongly backed the Assad regime. Its early intervention had nothing to do with combating religious extremism for the simple reason that this problem barely existed in the early months of the Syrian uprising.

In the past six years, this changed and Iran stepped up its intervention. Mostly notably, it recruited a pan-Shia militia that, along with Hezbollah, has done the bulk of the fighting in defense of the Assad regime.

Irans critical role in Syria has significantly contributed to the spread of sectarianism across the Middle East: ISIS has been a key beneficiary of this. Now the blowback has come to Tehran.

ISIS is fundamentally the product of political authoritarianism in the Sunni Arab world. Its theological home is in Saudi Arabia. The legacy of political tyranny in the Arab world, buttressed by the consequences of the US invasion of Iraq, created social conditions that allowed this extremist cult not only to emerge but also to proliferate. Irans role in this equation has been generally unrecognized.

Though indirect, Irans contribution has been significant. Its domestic policies discriminating against ethnic/religious minorities, and its sectarian foreign policy in Iraq and Syria are key elements that has contributed to ISIS expansion. In other words, Irans chickens have come home to roost.

Nader Hashemiis the Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver. His latest book isSectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East.

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Surely Some Mistake. Why Did ISIS Attack Iran? - Newsweek

Sailors line the bow of the destroyer USS Cole as it glides past One World Trade Center and the lower Manhattan skyline, May 21, 2014 in New York.

AP

Last Updated Jun 14, 2017 11:27 AM EDT

U.S. officials told CBS News on Wednesday that an Iranian warship had shined a spotlight and laser at an American military helicopter accompanying two U.S. Navy vessels sailing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz during the night.

Military sources told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin that the incident was considered by the U.S. Navy to have been "unsafe and unprofessional."

While Iranian military vessels do occasionally test the patience of U.S. warships in and near the Strait of Hormuz -- a vital international waterway through which nearly a third of all global oil shipments sail -- this incident was unusual because the Iranian ship involved was part of the regular Iranian navy, not the elite Revolutionary Guard.

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The two U.S. ships involved were the USS Cole destroyer and the USS Bataan amphibious assault ship, a vessel designed to carry and deploy smaller vessels and helicopters.

The last "unsafe" incident in the Strait of Hormuz occurred in March this year, when Iranian vessels had a close encounter with a U.S. surveillance ship.

Martin reported that theUSNS Invincible, which is outfitted with sonar to track submarines and radar to monitor missile tests, was transiting the Strait of Hormuz when it was forced to change its course to avoid a small group of Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast boats that had positioned themselves in front of her.

That encounter came just two days after anIranian navy frigate came within 150 yards of the Invinciblein the Gulf of Oman, just south of the Strait of Hormuz. The gulf separates Oman from southeastern Iran.

Still, neither of those incidents was the most serious of 2017. In January, a U.S.Navy destroyer fired multiple warning shots at Iranian patrol boatsas they sped toward the destroyer in the Strait of Hormuz "with their weapons manned."

The crew of the USS Mahan fired the warning shots after attempting to establish contact with the Iranians and after dropping smoke flares, U.S. officials said.

The U.S. Navy's confrontations with Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf do not usually reach the point of prompting warning shots by the U.S.

A U.S. Navy official told CBS News the Mahan was transiting the Strait of Hormuz when the Iranian boats sped toward it and failed to halt despite U.S. cautionary moves.

In May of 2016, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to the United States and its allies if they "threaten" the Islamic Republic.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Iran warship in Strait of Hormuz in "unsafe and unprofessional ... - CBS News