WASHINGTON — In a bold move revealed early Monday, former President Donald Trump announced that he has urged Middle Eastern leaders to join the Abraham Accords as a condition for participating in the Iran nuclear deal, which he described as “proceeding nicely!”
Trump shared on Truth Social that during a recent call on Saturday, he addressed leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan, and Bahrain. He emphasized the need for these nations to establish formal relations with Israel as outlined by the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords.
“I made it clear that after the considerable efforts by the United States to piece together this complex puzzle, it should be mandatory for these countries to at least simultaneously join the Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
While his comments during the conference call were already widely covered, it’s noteworthy that both the UAE and Bahrain, known for their strong stance against Iran, are already signatories to the accords.
Trump further explained, “It might be possible for one or two countries to have valid reasons for not joining, and we would accept that, but the majority should be prepared to make this agreement with Iran a historic event far beyond its current scope.” He stressed that he is “mandatorily requesting” their participation.
He concluded with a warning: “If they don’t comply, they should not be part of this deal, as it would reflect poorly on their intentions.”
Trump also wildly suggested that Iran could join the Abraham Accords, something that would be an extraordinary breakthrough given the decades of hostilities between Tehran and Israel, coupled with the fact that the two countries were just in an active war.
“In speaking to numerous of the Great Leaders mentioned above, they would be honored, as soon as our Document is signed, to have the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of the Abraham Accords. Wow, now that would be something special!” Trump declared in the post.
“[I]f 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.”
It’s also not clear that Israel would be on board with Iran joining the accords.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has sought to push Saudi Arabia into normalizing relations with Israel, at times, reportedly having tense discussions about that with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
The Saudis and other Middle Eastern countries have insisted that the Palestinian issue be resolved before they fully normalize relations with Israel.
Before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, the Saudi crown prince repeatedly signaled that his country was moving in that direction, and the Biden administration had worked towards achieving that breakthrough.
But the Israel-Hamas war seemingly poisoned the well and inflamed tensions between the Arab countries and Israel.
The Abraham Accords, which saw the UAE and Bahrain normalize relations with Israel, are widely regarded as one of Trump’s signature foreign policy achievements. Morocco and Sudan later joined the accords.
At the moment, the Trump administration is trying to iron out a “broad template” of a peace plan with Iran, that a senior official claims is about 95% of the way there, but likely a few days — at least — away from getting signed.
After speculation mounted over the weekend that a deal with Iran was imminent, Trump publicly stressed that he told his team not to “rush” into it.
“Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!” the president added in his Truth post.
