Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 22, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

As a deal to end the war in Iran may be close at hand, the current environment presents the United States with the opportunity to foster a more connected and integrated Middle East.

While Iran continues to hold significant leverage, this moment nonetheless presents a pivotal opening for Washington to pursue long-term policies that weaken the regime’s economic reach and deepen American engagement across the Middle East and beyond.

Defined as much by risk as by possibility, the current moment demands clear-eyed leadership and bipartisan cooperation. Whatever the trajectory of US–Iran relations, regional integration can no longer be viewed as a distant aspiration — it is now an American strategic necessity.

To address Iran’s growing willingness to directly threaten American assets, openly attack Gulf partners, and disrupt critical waterways such as the Strait of Hormuz, lawmakers must act quickly and in concert.

Both Congress and the Administration must go beyond words and pursue new and bolster existing initiatives that promote cooperation in innovation, trade, and infrastructure across the Middle East. These types of programs help to build the interdependencies and trust needed to withstand future destabilizing actions by the Iranian regime, its proxies, and competing global powers.

Last month, Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) introduced S.4443, the Eastern Mediterranean Gateway Act, the companion to the House’s H.R. 3307, introduced by Congressman Brad Schneider ((D-IL), underscoring Congress’ role in advancing regional integration.

This bipartisan, bicameral legislation directly confronts the threat posed by the Iranian regime to global energy markets. Through creating new opportunities for energy cooperation and diplomatic alignment among Europe, the Middle East, India, and the US, the legislation will strengthen energy security and counter the damage Tehran can inflict by closing the Strait of Hormuz and other related actions.

To build the trust and institutional ties necessary for sustained, long-term cooperation, Congress should also revisit and modernize the Regional Integration and Normalization Act, which was last introduced in 2023.

By better supporting multilateral economic frameworks, utilizing the US International Development Finance Corporation, and establishing regional forums that convene partners from the US and the Middle East, we can deepen trade and investments that bind these neighbors together in meaningful and mutually beneficial ways.

We have seen how initiatives like these can work on the ground — take, for example, the Middle East Regional Cooperation Program, the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, the Israel–US Binational Industrial Research and Development Program, and the US–Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund. They all offer proven models that can be expanded and adapted to support this broader regional integration agenda.

But Congress cannot do this alone. If President Trump wants to convince more countries to join the Abraham Accords, elements of the 20-Point Plan that focus on Gaza reconstruction could be adapted and strengthened through a more multilateral approach that advances a vision of a more integrated and aligned region.

This includes pursuing Gaza infrastructure and recovery projects with American, Israeli, and Arab partners; expanding regional efforts that undermine the political credibility of terror organizations (including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps); and investing in interfaith and educational initiatives that challenge extremist ideologies and promote coexistence.

Recent conflicts have reinforced a difficult but essential truth: military force — while sometimes necessary — is not sufficient alone to change the behavior of entrenched actors or ideologies. Lasting stability requires a coordinated regional political strategy that both delegitimizes extremists and advances a credible alternative grounded in cooperation, economic opportunity, and mutual recognition.

Efforts to build new economic integration and people-to-people partnerships can no longer be dismissed as naïve or disconnected. That thinking has produced stagnation, not stability. The absence of sincere engagement carries far greater risk than the pursuit of it.

The US government has two options: retreat into short-term crisis management, or lead with purpose and help build a Middle East defined not by its past conflicts, but by its future potential.

The window is narrow. But it is open.

Benjamin Rogers is AJC Director of Middle East and North Africa Initiatives and Deputy Director of the AJC Center for a New Middle East.