Israel and the United States, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump respectively, have declared victory over the Iranian regime after a 12-day war over the past two weeks, stating that the immediate threat of nuclear missiles has been eliminated, the "Jerusalem Post" pointed out.
Although Netanyahu has been warning about the threat that the Iranian regime has posed for about four decades, and that the Israeli Air Force completed an incredible and impressive operation, the attack on the Fordow nuclear facility was carried out by the Americans.
The way they understood and understand the Iranian regime has shaped their foreign policy, had a hand in the war, and will continue to do so to define the region, which will have implications for the Iranian people under the regime, as well as for Israelis and Palestinians.
Dr. David Urmser, an American foreign policy expert with a long history in the US defense and diplomatic establishment, is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
US policy "has consistently been that we cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. In that sense, it has always been in tune with Israeli foreign policy," he says.
But the question of how to approach this, of how to avoid it, has long been divided into different schools of thought, and "these elements have caused great differences between administrations."
Urmser was a senior adviser to Cheney from 2003 to 2007. on Middle East issues, proliferation, and strategic issues.
He cites the example of that administration, which was in power from 2001 to 2009. It "made it pretty clear that Iran could not get a nuclear weapon - and tried to diplomatically prevent the Iranian regime from developing key components of the program."
This included pressure from the International Atomic Energy Agency and ultimately UN resolutions that aimed to limit Iran's nuclear ambitions. Sanctions were also imposed "to deprive them of the means to pursue various programs."
In contrast, he explained, the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017 "went in a completely different direction: Instead of dealing with the nuclear program first, they thought that shaping the Iranian government into a more favorable structure would be the best way to control their nuclear ambitions".