Trump’s election victory has meant that the GOP’s traditionalist foreign policy hawks — for whom Iran has long been a top focus — are ascendant once again, as the party prepares to take control of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

To Tehran, the message from many of Trump’s surrogates has taken the form of a broad warning. Gone, they say, is the Democrats’ “weak” policy of appeasement. Prepare to be squeezed into submission.

Among them is Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), who served as ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first term and has called for strong action against Iran. “There’s going to be a massive departure from the Biden administration’s foreign policy at every level,” he said in an interview, signaling his belief that there will be “bold and immediate action,” including sanctions enforcement, “that will have a very rapid effect.”

But while those most eager for a U.S. assault on Iran, or even regime change, held sway in the last Trump administration, several GOP lawmakers and officials are cautioning that those voices will enjoy far less clout this time around.

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