U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said a proposed civil nuclear deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is conditional on the Gulf kingdom joining the Abraham Accords and officially recognizing Israel, adding the deal does not allow for nuclear enrichment.
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have reached an agreement on civil nuclear power, letting the kingdom enrich uranium and build nuclear reactors using U.S. technology, without requiring the snap U.N. inspections that Washington has previously demanded from Iran.
“The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!) … pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and U.A.E. (and others) already have, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” the U.S. president wrote in a post on Truth Social. “The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities,” he added.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had told Gulf and Arab allies many times about pegging the deal to the Abraham Accords, adding if the kingdom does not join them “the deal is off.”
Saudi Arabia maintains it would not sign the Abraham Accords unless there was an agreement on a roadmap to Palestinian statehood. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords in 2020, breaking the longstanding taboo to become the first Arab states to recognize Israel in a quarter century. Morocco and Sudan followed suit.
In a statement, Saudi Arabia said the agreement supports efforts to diversify energy sources, and includes the “highest international standards” of nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation. It claimed the deal allowed the kingdom to enrich uranium and reprocess nuclear waste.