Once again, Regime Change in Iraq was stated US policy during Clinton/Gore and was brought to fruition under BushCo with the approval of Pelosi LLC. Regime Change in Iran was/is stated US policy since 1980. The Anti-Communist Crusade known as the Cold War was/is stated US policy toward Russia, and said policy continues despite Russia no longer being communist. US Imperial expansion was/is stated US policy since 1947-48, and achieving "global dominance" (and other similar phrasings) is currently stated US policy. All the above are bi-partisan policies and are fully promoted by the Propaganda and Indoctrination Systems--truths more people are becoming aware of, but the minority of those in the know is frightfully small.

I think one of the lessons Russia's leaders will learn is that Russia's future does NOT lie in "looking west" a la Peter the Great and a longstantding ideological battle within Russia for centuries. Europe needs Russia far more than Russia needs Europe. More interesting is the fact that Russia doesn't need the USA, but the USA needs Russia--hydrocarbons and other fundamental resources to be rapidly extracted and sold on the global market, which will serve to keep the prices of such cheaper than otherwise.

"the US claims to believe that Iran is making nuclear weapons."

Considering that US intelligence agencies do not think Iran is making nuclear weapons (NIE last year), even that is really not true. Perhaps something like "some extremists in the US who think they know better than their intelligence agencies claim to believe Iran might be making nuclear weapons..."