The article examines foreign policy approaches and means for establishing bilateral relations between Washington and Tehran and the actual introduction of a policy of "deterring" the US against Iran. Given the IRI's ability to influence the weakening of the anti-American policy of radical extremist organizations in the Middle East, the Reagan administration tried to establish an informal bilateral dialogue with moderate representatives of the Iranian leadership. After the publication of the said secret American-Iranian contacts in the United States and the implementation of the arms-for-host exchange strategy, an internal political scandal erupted in the United States related to the illegal sale of American weapons to Iran. In order to compensate for the loss of the American image from the case of Iran-Contras, which dealt a blow to confidence in the US among the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, R. Reagan transformed regional politics toward pressure on the IRI. It was confirmed that the greatest interest of the USA in the course of the Iran-Iraq war was considered to promote as much as possible weakening rivals each other, so that none of the Middle Eastern countries could become a hegemon in the region and prevent the spread of American influence in the Persian Gulf.