WASHINGTON — The fate of the Iran deal, a resolution to the Syrian civil war and other pressing foreign policy issues may rest with who Donald Trump chooses to advise him and serve in his Cabinet.

While Trump has signaled some continuity with the Obama administration in seeking to cooperate with Russia to combat the Islamic State (IS) and find a solution to the Syrian war, on others his expressed instincts and range of proposed advisers signal a sharp departure, particularly on global climate change. On the Iran nuclear deal, it may particularly depend on who has his ear.

"President-elect Trump is not particularly ideological and that will serve him well," President Barack Obama said at a news conference on Nov. 14 before traveling to Europe and Peru. "I think ultimately he is pragmatic."

“It all comes down to the people, who they are,” a senior US administration official working on Iran told Al-Monitor. “Whoever it is, is going to have a long list of to-dos. Whether they feel like adding one more to the list … I think anybody that comes in is going to be looking at a very long list of foreign policy challenges,” the official added.