IRAN/JAMES MATTIS/NUCLEAR/RUDY GIULIANI/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Defense Secretary James Mattis may have come to terms with President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the Iran nuclear deal, but he suggested the administration is still grappling with how to define US policy on countering Tehran following public calls for regime change from national security adviser John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani. Mattis sidestepped questions from lawmakers Wednesday about whether Bolton’s and Giuliani’s vocal support for regime change in Iran has directly influenced the current US strategy, but offered little indication that Trump and his top advisers have reached a consensus on the administration’s long-term vision…Specifically, lawmakers expressed concerns over an op-ed Bolton published in 2015 that advocated regime regime change and a speech by Giuliani, now Trump’s personal lawyer, just days before the President nixed the nuclear deal, that also endorsed the idea…Mattis himself has long pushed for a more aggressive strategy toward Tehran and in 2016 called Iran ‘the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East.’ But unlike Bolton, Mattis consistently advised Trump to remain in the nuclear agreement, arguing — along with former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — that it was in the national security interests of the US to do so ‘if we can confirm that Iran is living by the agreement.'”
-Zachary Cohen, “Mattis pressed on Bolton’s, Giuliani’s support for regime change in Iran,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 10, 2018 3:21 pm