US president urges Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar Egypt, Jordan, Turkey to join Abraham Accords as part of Iran nuclear deal Says negotiations with Iran are proceeding nicely Warns if no deal is reached it will mean back to battlefront and shooting.
WASHINGTON – US President Trump claimed Monday that he had demanded the leaders of six Muslim nations join the Abraham Accords if they want to be part of the Iran nuclear deal, which he said is “proceeding nicely!”
The president said he told the heads of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, and Jordan during a Saturday call that he wants those countries to normalize relations with Israel by agreeing to the 2020 US-brokered accords. Also included on the call were the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which are already signatories to the accords.
“I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” Trump recounted on Truth Social in a Memorial Day post.
The remarks were the second time in as many days that Trump tried to link the emerging deal with Iran to the accords, which were first signed in September 2020 by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, followed by Morocco and Sudan months later.
“Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all,” Trump announced on Truth Social on Monday, reiterating his oft-uttered threat that if no deal is reached, it will mean “Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”
He said that during discussions with leaders of Muslim and Arab states, he told them that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”
He specified that the countries he wished to see sign onto the accords included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan. He said he also spoke to the UAE and Bahrain about this possibility.
It was not clear why Egypt and Jordan would be required to sign the Abraham Accords, given that both have had relations with Israel since 1978 and 1994, respectively. Turkey and Israel have had rocky relations almost since the founding of the State of Israel, with long periods of amicable ties, although those have nosedived in the past decade.
Trump’s request for the Muslim and Arab states to join the Abraham Accords was first reported by Axios on Sunday.
The US president did not mention Israel in the lengthy post, and it was not immediately clear whether he was envisioning traditional accession to the Abraham Accords — which were brokered during his first term — or envisioning the creation of a political framework built around broader aims.
He said the expansion of the accords “should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit.”
If countries do not sign, he said, they should not be involved in any deal with Iran as “it shows bad intention.”
“It may be possible that one or two have a reason for not doing so, and that will be accepted, but most should be ready, willing, and able to make this Settlement with Iran a far more Historic Event than it would, otherwise, be,” he added.
Among the countries mentioned by Trump, Saudi Arabia has often been cited as the most likely candidate for joining the Abraham Accords, and years of diplomatic efforts by both Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, have been dedicated to this goal.
Riyadh has repeatedly said, however, that it will not join the accords before Israel commits to the establishment of a Palestinian state, an idea that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vehemently refused to entertain.
Like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan has said it will not recognize Israel until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Qatar, too, has no formal ties with Israel, although Doha is a key US ally and was a central mediator in negotiations between Israel and Hamas throughout the two-year Gaza war, sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
Axios, citing a US official, said the leaders of the countries Trump spoke to reacted to his normalization request with silence.
“There was silence on the line and Trump joked and asked if they are still there,” one of the officials was quoted as saying.
Apparently undeterred, the US president further claimed in his Truth Social post that “numerous” of the leaders he spoke to “would be honored,” as soon as a deal with Tehran is signed, “to have the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of the Abraham Accords.”
Trump suggested on Sunday that Iran, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, could “perhaps” join the agreements after a deal is reached.
“The Abraham Accords have proven to be, for the Countries involved (The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Kazakhstan), a Financial, Economic, and Social BOOM, even during this time of Conflict and War, with the current Members never even suggesting leaving, or taking so much as even a pause,” he continued.
Suggesting that he was indeed envisioning a vastly expanded Abraham Accords framework over simply establishing ties between Israel and its neighbors, Trump declared that “nothing in the past, or in the future, will surpass” it.
“Therefore, 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,” wrote the president.
Such a coalition, he said, would ensure the Middle East becomes “United, Powerful, and Economically Strong, like perhaps no other area, anywhere in the World!”
He added that he had asked his representatives — reportedly Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — to immediately “begin, and successfully complete, the process of signing these Countries into the already Historic Abraham Accords.”
Trump’s post suggested that he was seeking to offer Israel an upside in the nascent deal to end the war with Iran, whose reported terms have set off alarm bells in Jerusalem. Channel 12 reported on Sunday that senior Israeli officials have warned that, “As it seems, [the agreement] does not serve Israel’s interest.” Other officials have been quoted as calling it a bad deal and highly problematic for Israel.
Israeli officials are concerned that the deal, which would reportedly begin with a 60-day extension of the ceasefire, does not address Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs or its support for regional proxies, delaying negotiations on these and other key war goals. According to the report, officials fear the deal would grant Iran time for economic and military recovery, after which “it will be hard for the Americans and us to go back and fight.”
