It is not always clear what President Donald Trump is thinking on any particular issue.
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Trump is assembling all the pieces he needs to go after Iran
Trump's national-security team, Pentagon leadership, and intelligence service could either check a drive for war or facilitate it.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, Saudi King Salman, U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump, visit a new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
On Iran, however, Trump appears to have decidedly hardline leanings.
He repeatedly called the nuclear deal "the worst deal ever negotiated" while on the campaign trail, where he also said Iran was "the number one terrorist state."
While Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson refrained from killing the deal this spring, the president has kept up the rhetorical pressure.
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Most recently, during his trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump called for unity against Tehran and told assembled Arab leaders that, "For decades, Iran has fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror." (Observers noted that assertion could also be made about his audience.)
Mattis has also spoken dimly of what lies ahead for the US in the Middle East. "
Trump's CIA also appears to be adopting an anti-Iran posture.
Under its new director, former Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo, who was a ardent foe of the Iran deal, the intelligence agency has made moves toward more aggressive spying and covert operations.
And, according to The New York Times, Pompeo has found a skilled leader for his Iran operations: Michael D'Andrea, an experienced intelligence officer known as the "Dark Prince" or "Ayatollah Mike."
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D'Andrea, a Muslim convert, has gotten much of the credit for US efforts to weaken Al Qaeda.
Robert Eatinger, a former CIA lawyer who was involved in the agency's drone program, told The Times it would not be "the wrong read" to see D'Andrea's appointment as step toward a more hardline policy on Iran.
In addition to Trump's own bellicosity about Iran, there are signs the nationalist elements on his domestic-policy team are bleeding into the foreign-policy decision-making process, which — given their skepticism of international institutions and cooperation — could heighten the chance for conflict.
It's also possible that the military figures in Trump's national security apparatus could moderate the administration's positions and spur more thoughtful consideration of foreign affairs.
Mattis himself has spoken of strong diplomacy as a preventative to war and has said military force can only be successful when it comes as part of a large political strategy.
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