An expert in Middle East affairs shared a startling prediction about President Donald Trump's latest peace plan for the region during a new podcast interview on Thursday.
Trump has demanded that more Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East sign on to the Abraham Accords, a bilateral agreement the first Trump administration struck with some Middle Eastern countries in 2020, as part of the peace deal for the war in Iran. Reporting from Politico suggests that the idea has been met with "laughter, dismissal and, often, silence" from leaders in Middle Eastern countries.
Malcolm Nance, a former intelligence officer, said on a recent episode of the "PolitiCon" podcast that the idea is "mindless" and could lead to a resurgence of extremist groups the U.S. fought to defeat during the War on Terror.
"Trump seems to think that if I allow Israel to use force or Iran to use force, I can coerce you into doing something which technically could start the revival of ISIS and al-Qaeda in the Muslim world," Nance said.
The war in Iran has metastasized from an isolated conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran into a regional conflict over the last three months. Iran retaliated to American and Israeli bombing campaigns by striking Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other U.S. allies in the region.
In turn, Trump appears to be using Iran's strikes as leverage to get more Middle Eastern countries to sign on to the Abraham Accords, Nance suggested.
"Trump is so absolutely desperate to get something out of this war with this little trick," Nance said. "I can't wait to read who was the person to come up with this crazy plan that we're losing the Iran war."
"It's really bizarre. This is Bizarro World," he added.