Trump links Iran deal to Abraham Accords

Says it should be mandatory for Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye to join Abraham Accords as part of Iran deal

United States President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had asked countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and Turkiye, to join the Abraham Accords en masse to normalise relations with Israel as he tries to negotiate an agreement to end the war with Iran.

Trump said he spoke on Saturday to leaders of those countries, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have already signed the accords, a set of agreements to normalise relations with Israel.

“I am mandatorily requesting that all countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

He cited “all the work done by the US to try and pull this very complex puzzle together.”

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116635193825443617

Trump said those countries would be honoured to have Iran as part of the accords once a deal to end the war is reached. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s post. The other countries cited by Trump did not immediately respond to the Abraham Accords post.

Trump said one or two of the countries he spoke with may have a reason for not joining, but most should be “ready, willing, and able to make this settlement with Iran a far more historic event than it would otherwise be.”

Trump also said negotiations with Iran were “proceeding nicely”, but gave no indication a deal was imminent.

Longtime Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham has embraced the idea of linking an Iran deal to expanding the Abraham Accords as “beyond transformative for the region and world.”

Read More: Trump urges Saudi Arabia to join Abraham Accords, recognise Israel

Others see the strategy as something to make an Iran deal more palatable to sceptics.

“Trump is trying to sell an Iran deal as an Abraham Accords sequel: good for Israel, good for the region, tough enough for Washington,” said Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group. “But he is trading one fantasy for another - from forcing Iran to surrender to pretending a fragile deal can anchor a new Middle East order.”

Trump has repeatedly said he wanted to expand the accords that he brokered during his first term in the White House.

The UAE and Bahrain signed during Trump’s first term in 2020, breaking a longstanding taboo to become the first Arab states to recognise Israel in a quarter century. Morocco and Sudan followed suit.

Also Read: Gaza ceasefire takes priority over Israel ties, says Saudi FM

Trump had been upbeat about prospects that regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia would finally join the accords after a ceasefire went into effect in Gaza last year, but Riyadh has shown no willingness to move ahead. Egypt and Jordan have already established relations with Israel.