“Surgical strikes” by U.S. forces against Iran are needed to curb the Islamic republic’s increasing regional belligerence, a state-affiliated Saudi newspaper has warned.

The Arab News argued the U.S. had “set a precedent” with strikes against Syria’s Bashar al Assad’s regime in 2017 following the horror of sarin gas strikes in Khan Sheikhoun.

Iran should now be targeted following its attacks against Saudi oil infrastructure – first bomb attacks on two Saudi tankers, followed by drone strikes on two pumping stations – the paper said in an English-language editorial. It outlined its argument thus:

Crown Prince Mohammed was clearly correct when he argued that appeasement does not work with the Iranian regime, just as it did not work with Hitler. The next logical step — in this newspaper’s view — should be surgical strikes. The US has set a precedent, and it had a telling effect: The Trump strikes on Syria when the Assad regime used Sarin gas against its people. We argue this because it is clear that sanctions are not sending the right message.

The editorial continues by saying Iran must be hit and hit hard, and “they need to be shown that the circumstances are now different.”

“We call for a decisive, punitive reaction to what happened so that Iran knows that every single move they make will have consequences,” the opinion piece argued.

Arab News is owned and managed by members of the Saudi royal family, and is considered a government-aligned publication.

It call to action follows a hectic two-weeks of action in the Middle East.

The White House announced 10-days ago it would send the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers into the Persian Gulf to counter Tehran.

The Lincoln passed through the Suez Canal last Thursday on its way to its new assignment, as Breitbart News reported.

On Wednesday the U.S. ordered the partial evacuation of its Baghdad embassy and consulate in Arbil citing specific threats posed by Iraqi militias alleged controlled by Tehran.

Despite the growing local tensions, Mr. Trump has repeatedly argued for avoiding long-term conflicts in the Middle East.

On Tuesday he discounted a New York Times report that the U.S. has updated plans that could send up to 120,000 troops to counter Iran if it attacked American forces.