Walaupun dicemuh secara terbuka oleh pentadbiran Bush, golongan reformis dalam kerajaan Iran terus mempromosikan kepentingan Amerika Syarikat di Iran, serta di negara jiran Afghanistan dan Iraq. Di Iraq, Tehran terus memberikan sokongan kepada ketua SCIRI, Ayatollah Hakim, dan Briged Badr, yang telah menjadi tunjang rancangan Amerika Syarikat di Iraq Selatan. Di Afghanistan, Iran menjalankan program pembinaan semula dan latihan yang meluas di Kabul, Herat dan Kandahar. Setakat ini, Iran telah berjaya menghalang penentangan Pushtun daripada merebak ke Afghanistan Utara. Laporan Baker-Hamilton mengesahkan penglibatan sedemikian: '…Amerika Syarikat hendaklah terlibat secara langsung dengan Iran dan Syria bagi cuba memperoleh komitmen mereka terhadap dasar yang membina berkenaan Iraq dan isu-isu serantau yang lain. Dalam melibatkan Syria dan Iran, Amerika Syarikat hendaklah mempertimbangkan insentif, serta disinsentif; dalam usaha mendapatkan hasil yang membina…Melibatkan Iran adalah bermasalah, terutamanya memandangkan keadaan hubungan Amerika Syarikat-Iran. Namun Amerika Syarikat dan Iran pernah bekerjasama di Afghanistan, dan kedua-dua pihak hendaklah meneliti sama ada model ini boleh diulang dalam kes Iraq.'
Sebaliknya, Amerika Syarikat telah cuba membuat hujah yang meyakinkan tentang ancaman yang ditimbulkan oleh keupayaan nuklear Iran, dan terus mendesak untuk mengenakan sekatan kerana aspirasi nuklear negara itu bercanggah dengan norma antarabangsa. Israel ialah satu-satunya negara yang terus menyebarkan pandangan bahawa bom nuklear Iran hanya beberapa bulan lagi. Sylvan Shalom, Menteri Luar Israel, memberitahu satu mesyuarat pemimpin Yahudi di New York: 'Menurut pegawai keselamatan dan perisikan kami, mereka sangat, sangat hampir. Mungkin hanya enam bulan lagi sebelum mereka memiliki pengetahuan penuh itu.' Pada tahun 2005, dalam mesyuarat Agensi Tenaga Atom Antarabangsa (IAEA) di Vienna, pemimpin tertinggi Iran, Ayatollah Khameni, mengeluarkan fatwa yang mengharamkan penyimpanan, pengeluaran dan penggunaan senjata nuklear.
Despite being publicly derided by the Bush administration, such reformists in the Iranian government continue to promote US interests in Iran, and neighbouring Afghanistan and Iraq. In Iraq, Tehran continues to extend support to the leader of SCIRI, Ayatollah Hakim and the Badr Brigade who have become the lynchpin of US plans for Southern Iraq. In Afghanistan, Iran runs extensive reconstruction and training programs in Kabul, Herat and Kandahar. Thus far, Iran has successfully prevented the Pushtun resistance from spreading to Northern Afghanistan. The BakerHamilton report confirmed such engagement: ‘…the United States should engage directly with Iran and Syria in order to try to obtain their commitment to constructive policies toward Iraq and other regional issues. In engaging Syria and Iran, the United States should consider incentives, as well as disincentives; in seeking constructive results…Engaging Iran is problematic, especially given the state of the US-Iranian relationship. Yet the United States and Iran cooperated in Afghanistan, and both sides should explore whether this model can be replicated in the case of Iraq.’ On the other hand the US has attempted to make a compelling case about the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear capability, and continues to push for sanctions as the country’s nuclear aspirations contravene international norms. Israel is the only country that continues to propagate the view that Iran’s nuclear bomb is months away. Sylvan Shalom, Israel’s Foreign Minister told a meeting of Jewish leaders in New York: ‘According to our people, security and intelligence, they are very, very close. It may be only six months before they will have that full knowledge.’ In 2005, at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khameni, issued a fatwa, which forbade the stockpiling, production, and use of nuclear weapons.