Telegraph Editor ‘Warns’ Middle East Will Be on the ‘Brink of Peace’ under Trump

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain, attend the Abraham Accords Signing Ceremony at the White House, September 15, 2020.

The Telegraph’s veteran Defense and Foreign Affairs Editor Con Coughlin (he’s been on the job since 2006) on Sunday published an op-ed suggesting President-elect Donald Trump’s second term will take his remarkable achievements in the Middle East to the next level, bringing peace and stability to the most volatile region on the planet (Whisper it, but the Middle East may be on the brink of peace).

Coughlin believes Trump is fully aware of the threat posed by Iran and its network of terrorist allies in the region, which was a key reason for his decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal negotiated by Barack Obama. That agreement, he argued, did not adequately address Iran’s destabilizing activities.

Trump also showed little hesitation in confronting Islamist terrorists, according to Coughlin, who suggested Trump’s choice to relax restrictive rules of engagement, put in place by President Barack Obama, empowered the US-led coalition to defeat ISIS.

Additionally, his targeted killing of figures like Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s chief architect of regional terrorism, caused significant disruption to Tehran’s network.

“Neutralizing Iran’s ability to foment conflict in places such as Gaza and Lebanon will be one of Trump’s key priorities, especially after the revelation that Iran dispatched an assassination squad to kill him during the election campaign,” Coughlin wrote.

In addition to countering Iran’s destabilizing actions, Trump’s priority in the Middle East will be to reinvigorate the Abraham Accords, Coughlin wrote. This includes encouraging more Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel and tackling the question of Palestinian statehood.

Coughlin pointed out that Brian Hook, Trump’s special envoy for Iran during his first term, stated earlier this week that Trump’s “deal of the century” peace plan for resolving the Israeli-PA conflict may be revived. He expects that with Iran’s capacity to disrupt peace efforts diminished by recent heavy losses suffered by Hamas and Hezbollah, the prospect that Trump could become the US president to finally achieve lasting peace in the Middle East should be considered seriously.