Jeb Bush and Dennis Ross urge Trump to “isolate” Iran:

We need to isolate Iran, not ourselves. But we must raise the costs of continued Iranian intransigence, and to that end, the incoming Trump administration should adopt a more expansive strategy towards Tehran: namely by addressing those vital issues beyond the scope of the agreement, specifically Iran’s chronic regional meddling [bold mine-DL].

Bush and Ross’ recommendations are unsurprisingly wrongheaded and would commit the U.S. to more aggressive policies in the region that serve no American interests. Imposing more sanctions on Iran isn’t going to change its behavior in the region, but it will produce additional tensions and likely cause more intransigence from Tehran. They make a remarkably unrealistic demand here:

It will be imperative for the incoming Administration to maintain the bipartisan consensus in Congress that the status quo in Damascus and Baghdad—and Iran’s role there—is unacceptable.

Saying that they find the status quo in both Syria and Iraq to be “unacceptable” implies that they think the U.S. has both the right and the ability to change it to their liking. It is very doubtful that the U.S. could change that status quo or reduce Iran’s role in these countries without significant cost, including the risk of direct conflict with Iran. It is hard to see why this status quo is so unacceptable, since it is not all that different from how things were five years ago. It is very clear that the U.S. has no right to do this, and would be engaged in even more egregious meddling if it tried. Trump should ignore their proposals, but the danger is that he and his Iran hawks are going to be only too receptive to these arguments.

A smarter policy would be to move away from fruitless confrontation with Iran while withdrawing U.S. backing for Saudi and Gulf interference in the affairs of other states, especially in Yemen, in recognition that that they have been the biggest destabilizing forces in the region over the last five years. There is no chance of any of that happening, but it would be a much more prudent course than the one Bush and Ross propose.