Trump 2.0: Islamic Republic In Iran Strategy

Trump administration (“Trump 1.0”) Iran policy was nonlinear and, to the untrained analyst, superficially contradictory. In May 2019, Trump called for “no regime change,” and expressed himself open to “a deal” with the IRI regime. Yet, Trump also pursued policies that, taken to their logical conclusion, all but ensured regime collapse. Historically, as addressed herein, some of the best U.S. strategies seemed, at the time, contradictory. This strategy (the “Strategy”) integrates Trump 1.0 Iran policy as seamlessly as possible with several new policy recommendations. Such new policies are based on what Trump has done before, and thus are part of a reasonable/natural/evolutionary policy process. Combined, this policy stew has a high likelihood of achieving “regime collapse” (the “Strategic Objective”).