As the Trump administration's policies are taking shape, I've been wondering how the belligerent remarks made by Trump and his officials square with past indications that he wanted to improve relations with Russia. Sheikh looks squarely at this contradiction. This foreign policy appears to be another illustration of the quixotic nature of Trump's reign as he aggressively and recklessly tilts at so many windmills.
The policy towards Iran is, therefore, fundamentally different from the policy the Trump administration is probably designing towards Russia (read: Trump administration’s resolve to defeat the IS through joint action). Therefore, the key question here is: is the Trump administration looking for dividing the Russia-Iran relations—and if yes, can it do so?