Donald Trump says nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia is contingent on normalising ties with Israel

Donald Trump has declared that his previously announced deal with Saudi Arabia allowing the Gulf Kingdom to enrich uranium would be contingent on its willingness to normalise ties with Israel and join the Abraham Accords.

NBC and The New York Times both report that the US President made the announcement on Truth Social following concerns from Israel over the nuclear deal announced earlier this week.

The announcement could have major implications for the deal itself, given Saudi Arabia’s previously stated stance of refusing to recognise Israel without a concrete pathway towards the creation of a Palestinian state.

Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social that there would be “no enrichment of material” and that the deal would only pertain “to non-military use”.

He also wrote that the deal was subject to the Gulf Kingdom “joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords”.

Those accords are the agreements brokered by the US during Mr Trump’s first term which were aimed at normalising relations with Israel and which were signed by a number of majority Muslim nations, such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

That’s despite neither condition being outlined when the deal was announced on X by the US Energy Department on Wednesday.

That agreement, which was signed by US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and his Saudi counterpart, His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman is still yet to be approved by congress.

However it has already stoked fears of another potential arms race in the Middle East with the US still engaged in its war with Iran over its nuclear program. During the signing of the agreement the Trump administration said the deal would be aimed at helping the country enrich nuclear fuel for Saudi Arabian reactors.

The Washington Post reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has previously talked about working to develop nuclear weapons if Iran is not stopped from getting them.

The Post previously reported that while short on detail, the deal is designed with safeguards to keep the Saudis from enriching nuclear fuel to weapons-grade level.

However, they acknowledged that it also exempted the Saudis from the kind of aggressive international inspections required in nuclear reactor deals with other countries, including the United Arab Emirates.

Instead, sensitive inspections would be executed by American teams under terms spelled out in the agreement, which was initially worked out when the crown prince visited Washington in November.

Saudi officials are yet to respond to Mr Trump’s social media update on the nuclear agreement.