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In this mailing:
* Con Coughlin: Palestinian Leaders, Gulf States Such as Qatar, Have No Interest in Real Peace with Israel
* Amir Taheri: Iran: Fear of Running Short of Water


** Palestinian Leaders, Gulf States Such as Qatar, Have No Interest in Real Peace with Israel ([link removed])
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by Con Coughlin • September 28, 2025 at 5:00 am
* The main stumbling block to Trump's repeated efforts to end the conflict in Gaza, though, remains the fact that Palestinian leaders, and Qatar, have no genuine interest in negotiating a permanent peace deal with Israel.
* Qatar, as well as other Gulf States, which reportedly are expected to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, will doubtless demand a role in its future governance. Such a concession, even if Israel were to monitor security, would be a monumental recipe for disaster.
* Qatar has a history of funding effectively all radical Islamic terrorist groups -- from ISIS to Al-Qaeda to Hamas to the Taliban --and appears solidly committed to furthering the policies of the Muslim Brotherhood.
* Even if Hamas is not included in a future Gaza, there is always room theoretically for a clone of Hamas with a different name. As Egypt and Islamist groups continue smuggling weapons into the "new" Gaza, there will undoubtedly be endless friction with Israel, not to mention the Palestinians whom the current negotiators insist stay in place. With sufficient incentives, many countries might be glad to spare them years of living in rubble.
* The best idea, and in the long run far less expensive militarily and diplomatically, would be if Trump would return to his original idea of Gaza as a kind of US-Israeli "Riviera" protectorate, preferably with a US military base. Then one would not even need any further Abraham Accords: a US military presence should be sufficient to deter aggression and keep peace -- as it has done so successfully in Qatar.
* Not all Arab states might like this approach. It certainly would deprive them of the opportunity, should the winds change, of trying again to destroy Israel.
* So even if, as Trump insists, Hamas is excluded from any future negotiations on the future of Gaza and the Palestinians, the likelihood of his administration having any positive talks with so-called "moderate" Palestinian leaders, such as Abbas -- or any prospects of a true, long-term peace if Arab countries are allowed to run Gaza -- sadly, the end to decades of hostility will continue to be non-existent.

The main stumbling block to President Donald Trump's repeated efforts to end the conflict in Gaza, though, remains the fact that Palestinian leaders, and Qatar, have no genuine interest in negotiating a permanent peace deal with Israel. Pictured: Qatar's then Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani holds hands with then Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during their visit to the Islamic University in the Gaza Strip on October 23, 2012. (Photo by Wissam Nassar/AFP via Getty Images)

There is one major drawback to US President Donald Trump's latest effort to end the Gaza conflict: Palestinian leaders and some Gulf Arab states -- in particular Qatar (such as here, here, here, here and here) -- have absolutely no intention of agreeing to, or implementing, a lasting peace deal with Israel.

For nearly eight decades, Palestinian leaders have consistently rejected offers to end hostilities with Israel.

While Mahmoud Abbas, the so-called "moderate" leader of the Palestinian Authority, has said he is willing to work with the Trump administration on a peace plan for Gaza, the chances of any negotiations with the Palestinians reaching a successful conclusion are remote if their track record is anything to go by.

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** Iran: Fear of Running Short of Water ([link removed])
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by Amir Taheri • September 28, 2025 at 4:00 am
* Lake Urmia, once the 18th largest in the world, seems to have gone for good.
* The position of scores of rivers is no better.
* One immediate effect is a steady drop in food production.
* Another cause of the current crisis, as mentioned by Pezeshkian, is population increase.

Over 40 percent of Iran's estimated 300 lakes and wetlands have either dried up or are on the way to becoming patches of desert within a decade. Lake Urmia, once the 18th-largest in the world, seems to have disappeared for good. Pictured: Part of what is left of Lake Urmia, on November 1, 2023. (Photo by Hamed/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

It was with a sigh of relief that the Islamic Republic of Iran's President Massoud Pezeshkian welcomed the new academic year and the start of autumn the other day -- relief that what is dubbed "the thirstiest summer" in Iran's long history was over.

Only two months ago, he had warned that even Tehran, the capital city, may run out of water within weeks. The disaster he had predicted was avoided, but the factors that could have shaped it remain present.

Iran today is running short of water.

The latest figures published by the Ministry of Water and Power paint a grim picture.

Most of the 80 dams across the country contain only 36 percent of their water-holding capacity.

Of the nation's 31 provinces, only two have maintained the balance between water use and renewal of water resources.

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