The deal between the US and Saudi Arabia to help the Gulf kingdom develop nuclear energy depends on Riyadh recognising the State of Israel, President Donald Trump has said. The Saudi Israel nuclear deal condition marks a significant escalation in Trump’s push to expand the Abraham Accords.
“The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!)… which pertains only to non-military use… will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” Trump said on Truth Social.
It remains unclear whether this condition is written into the text of the nuclear deal itself, which has not been released, or whether Saudi Arabia has actually agreed to it. Saudi Arabia has not yet responded to Trump’s remarks.
White House Confirms the Condition Is Firm
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Trump had raised the condition with Saudi leaders on numerous previous occasions. “He has said if they don’t join the Abraham Accords, the deal is off,” she said. “So we’ll continue to have those conversations with our Saudi counterparts moving forward.”
Trump’s comments follow criticism from experts who warned that the US-Saudi deal, announced Wednesday, could risk future nuclear proliferation in an already unstable region. Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers voiced similar concerns, though Trump’s Republican Party controls both chambers of Congress, and opponents do not appear to have the votes needed to block the deal.
What the Deal Actually Includes
According to the US Department of Energy, the agreement includes a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement and a bilateral safeguards agreement. The department said in a statement that together, these agreements lay the legal foundation for a decades-long, multibillion-dollar partnership advancing several priority economic and strategic objectives, including nuclear nonproliferation. The agreement will be sent to Congress for review.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Thursday it was aware of US and Saudi plans for a bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement, and of plans to ask the IAEA to implement verification measures. The agency said it looked forward to receiving the formal request and working with both countries to ensure those measures are carried out.
The Abraham Accords Precedent
During Trump’s first term, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords, resulting in a historic normalisation of relations between Israel and two Arab nations, the first such agreements in decades. Sudan, Morocco and Kazakhstan have since joined as well.
Saudi Arabia has previously said it will not normalise relations with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state. The White House, however, has said the nuclear deal is off the table if Riyadh does not join the accords.
Israeli Reaction Is Mixed
Israel has welcomed Trump’s statement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office posted on X that Saudi Arabia joining the accords would represent a historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East, though the statement did not directly address the nuclear component. Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat previously said Israel “can manage it” if Saudi Arabia developed nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
Others have been more critical. Former Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said every military nuclear programme begins with a civilian one. Israel itself is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though it neither confirms nor denies this.
Enrichment Question Remains Contentious
The nuclear issue sits at the centre of the months-long US-Israeli conflict with Iran, which has for years denied Western accusations that it seeks nuclear weapons. Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told CBS News in 2018 that his country was not planning to acquire a nuclear weapon, but that Saudi Arabia would follow suit “as soon as possible” if Iran developed one.
Earlier US media reports suggested the deal could eventually allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium, material that can fuel power plants but also potentially be used to build nuclear weapons. Trump’s latest remarks appear to rule this out.
Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East programme at the Defense Priorities think tank, said it would be quite shocking if the US allowed Saudi Arabia to build uranium enrichment facilities. “The US has never done that before. We have never helped another country enrich on their own soil,” she said, noting that the ability to produce nuclear fuel domestically significantly raises the risk of a country building nuclear weapons.
