WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump conditioned a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia on Thursday on Riyadh normalizing relations with Israel, an action the kingdom has so far refused to take.
Trump said the deal would take effect only if Saudi Arabia joined the US-brokered Abraham Accords under which several Arab states established ties with Israel. The kingdom has long rejected joining the accords absent a pathway toward Palestinian statehood.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump had spoken with Gulf and Arab allies many times about pegging the deal to the Abraham Accords and that if the kingdom does not join them "the deal is off".
The US and Saudi Arabia announced the agreement on Wednesday allowing Riyadh to enrich uranium and build nuclear reactors using US technology without the snap UN inspections Washington has demanded of Iran.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump wrote: "The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!) … pertains only to nonmilitary use such as the ones that Iran and UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords."
