Pertinent to the Trump calculus is the input from Israel and Saudi Arabia -- both states rabid in their claims that Iran is a malign influence in the region. Trump is due to meet with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu when he flies to Washington later this month. The pair have already held phone calls in which they have reportedly discussed the need to contain Iran.
Trump's defense secretary James Mattis, who last week also labeled Iran the world's biggest sponsor of terrorism , has reportedly been sharing close communication with Saudi Arabia's military chief Prince Mohammed bin Salman about regional security matters, including again the need to contain Iran. The Wahhabi House of Saud views Shia Iran and its more democratically driven Islamic Revolution as an existential threat to its dynastic rule and that of the other aligned Sunni Monarchs in the Persian Gulf.
The Washington establishment depends on this Saudi-Israeli axis and its containment of Iran in order to maintain its petrodollar hegemony, upon which its entire economy survives. The symbiotic nature of the US relation with Saudi and Israeli despotism is systematic and immutable regardless of who is occupying the White House.
A senior House of Saud figure, Prince Turki al Faisal, the former Saudi intelligence chief and uncle of the present defense minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is also a patron of the Iranian dissident group MEK. He has spoken at rallies calling for regime change, according to AP. It is very possible that the House of Saud is a major funder of the MEK, otherwise it is hard to explain how the exile group maintains offices in Europe and the US, with such major political figures on its guest lists.
The tie up with Israeli military intelligence is also consistent. Iranian authorities claim that assassinations carried out by MEK agents are enabled by Israel's Mossad.
It would appear that Israel, Saudi Arabia and the MEK anti-Iran exile group are major drivers of Trump's policy towards Iran.
Certainly the uptick in belligerence from the Trump administration is strongly suggestive of undue influence.
Personal dynamics also come significantly into play. Trump has shown himself to be something of a dilettante and ignoramus on foreign matters. He doesn't read books, gets his information from cable TV news, and appears to be reliant on advisers and nebulous details to formulate policy. Trump's echoing of state terror sponsor charges against Iran suggest that this is a president who is prone to malign influence.
And on the matter of Iran, there is plenty of malign influence feeding into Trump's brain.
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