Iran victory gives Trump the chance to reshape Mid East with trade deals

Israel’s decisive victory over Iran’s Islamist regime has set Tehran’s nuclear plans back years at the least.It has also created a unique opening to normalize ties between Jerusalem and the Arab world, via an expansion of President Donald Trump’s Abraham Accords.Without Iran breathing down their necks, its neighbors in the region — Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq — can focus on their own national interests.That means peace with Israel, and racing to capture a bigger share of the regional and global knowledge economy.Tehran’s plan has been to divide and torture.Iran’s mullahs were the sponsors of the Oct.7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel; the Houthis’ war on Saudi Arabia and global economy; Bashar al-Assad’s fight against his own people; Lebanon’s fight for sovereignty against Hezbollah; and Iraq’s many divisions.Without these anti-Israel distractions, there is room for change.The 2020 accords were the diplomatic high point of the first Trump administration.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan all formally recognized Israel, becoming the first Arab states to do so in a quarter-century.The war in Gaza made it impossible for any further Arab states to join the accords.Yet today, some Arab countries that previously rejected any move toward peace with Israel are a “maybe.”The primary motive for peace is the economy.Leading a country battered by five decades of socialist tyranny that included 13 years of civil war, Syrian President Ahmad Sharaa has focused intently on economic revival.His recent peaceful overtures toward Israel are unprecedented since Syrian independence in 1946.Sharaa and others who seek prosperity via peace are trying to emulate the UAE, whose economic hubs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi have become the envy of the region.Realizing that new technology and a growing population required decisive moves away from dependence on oil exports, the UAE is now competing on the global stage for a bigger share of the ser...