Trump's International Trip: Sending a Message to Iran and Extremists

President Trump made a bold move by including Israel and Saudi Arabia on his first international visit. His predecessors, dating back to President Ford, chose the safer political confines of Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom when making their first international jaunts. By selecting Israel and Saudi Arabia, the trip not only symbolizes a chance to reset relations with these countries after a rupture over the Iran nuclear deal; it also shows America’s allies and the rest of the world that Trump’s administration is serious about confronting the extremist forces that threaten the region.

More important than the revised tenets is the election of Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar is a U.S.-designated terrorist who enjoys close relations with Iranian leaders. Sinwar’s first order of business will likely be to repair any rift with Iran stemming from Syria and bring the Hamas movement closer to Tehran.  Working with Egypt—and especially through President Trump’s relationship with President Sisi—to ensure Hamas remains isolated despite cosmetic amendments to its charter will be especially important.

Hamas is not the only terror organization that is greatly influenced by the Iranian regime. Hezbollah, which receives funding, training, arms and political support from Iran, is expected to redeploy to southern Lebanon and use its new platform in the Golan Heights in preparation for yet another war with Israel.  Hezbollah has used its Syrian operations protecting the Assad regime to gain valuable airpower and battlefield experience.  Armed with new and enhanced capabilities, including access reportedly to Iranian-owned long-range missile factories in Lebanon, Hezbollah is well-positioned to carry out attacks on Israel, threatening the stability of the entire region.  In this regard, the administration should seek guarantees that the new “safe zones” established by Russia, Iran, and Turkey last week will not serve as a staging ground for attacks on the Jewish state.

In the Arab world, shared interests, such as weakening Iran’s regional hegemony through confronting their terror proxies, does not always result in concrete cooperation, especially when navigating the politics within the GCC.  But President Trump’s visit provides an opportunity to unite and strengthen this effort.

By working collaboratively with individual GCC states and the bloc as a whole to build capacity, the United States can incentivize the GCC states, including mavericks such as Qatar and Oman, to close ranks in a pro-Western alliance dedicated to upholding a palatable U.S. vision of regional security and stability. 

In doing so, the Trump administration can explore pathways to developing more formal security arrangements with the GCC.  One available option in the long-run is extending the designation of “major non-NATO ally” to more states within the GCC, something that the Obama administration considered in 2015. Such a designation—which does not include a mutual defense agreement—would provide the GCC countries with a variety of financial and military benefits, including expedited defense procurement, joint defense research and development endeavors, and counterterrorism cooperation.

Also, this visit enables the administration to cultivate improved ties and security coordination between the GCC and other key U.S. allies in the Middle East. President Trump has encouraged reconciliation between the GCC and Egypt, urged Saudi Arabia to expand ties with Iraq in an effort to curtail Iran’s influence, and has promoted Saudi ties with Pakistan, as evidenced by the selection of former Pakistani army chief of staff General Raheel Sharif as head of Saudi Arabia’s newly formed Islamic Military Alliance.

Likewise, President Trump should seek to cultivate closer ties between the GCC and Israel, as both face the twin threats of Iranian and Sunni jihadist extremism.  If these efforts take hold, the GCC’s efficacy in confronting Iran throughout the region will be greatly improved. U.S. security will be enhanced by the creation of a stronger regional alliance structure which can promote burden sharing—a goal that fits squarely in an ‘America first’ foreign policy.  

Jason M. Brodsky is the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI).  He is on Twitter @JasonMBrodsky.