US intel chief calls Iran the leading terror sponsor, as nuke talks enter final phase

The nation’s top intelligence official labeled Iran the leading state sponsor of terrorism and called the regime -- and its proxy Hezbollah -- the single most important factors keeping Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in power, according to a letter obtained by Fox News.
The warning comes as Obama administration officials enter the final phase of nuclear negotiation with Tehran. But despite the diplomatic track, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper assailed the country’s role in destabilizing the region in the letter to Republican senators.
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"Iran remains the foremost state sponsor of terrorism and is increasing its ability to influence regional crises and conduct terrorism," Clapper wrote in the June 3 letter. "This has been the consistent view of the IC [intelligence community] for more than three decades."
On its role propping up Assad, accused of using chemical weapons on his own people, Clapper stated that, "Iran and Hizballah's efforts in Syria have been instrumental in preventing the collapse of the Assad regime, which they view as critical to maintaining their 'axis of resistance' against Israel and the West." 
Clapper was blunt in the letter to senators, after some lawmakers earlier questioned why Iran and Hezbollah were not listed in the “terrorism subsection” of the 2015 Worldwide Threat Assessment; both had been listed in previous years’ assessments. 
In the three-page letter, Clapper warned, without qualification, that Iranian-backed militias taking on the Islamic State in Iraq are the same groups who are a danger. "These militias have also threatened to conduct terrorist attacks against US interests in response to US involvement in Iraq."
Clapper said the threat report was an overview of global threats, and not a “comprehensive listing of every threat facing the United States.” The DNI added, "A specific reference to the terrorist threat from Iran and Hizballah -- which was not included in any of the drafts of the testimony -- would have been appropriate ... but the lack of its inclusion is in no way a change in the IC's assessment."
On Thursday, the Obama administration also labeled Iran and Cuba as serial human rights abusers in a State Department report.
Clapper said Thursday that the U.S. has eyes wide open in its talks with Iran. “We are not in the trust business at all,” Clapper said.
But critics say the administration is ignoring these issues while pursuing a nuclear deal. "Our administration is not going to do anything to upset the ability to complete a nuclear deal," Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo, who sits on the House intelligence committee, recently told Fox News. "So, as the Iranians expand, as they exert greater control in Iraq, this administration has chosen to at least turn the other way and allow the Iranian expansion, on the hope that they can get this deal across the finish line in the next 30 days."