President Donald Trump said Middle Eastern nations must sign the Abraham Accords to participate in a forthcoming peace agreement with Iran [1].
This demand links a broad regional security framework with specific negotiations regarding Iran, potentially altering the diplomatic leverage of Arab nations in the peace process.
Trump announced the requirement in a statement posted on Truth Social on May 25, 2026 [2]. He said that the current progress toward an Iran deal is proceeding well, but maintained that the participation of regional partners depends on their commitment to the Abraham Accords [4].
According to Trump, the requirement is a measure of a nation's sincerity regarding regional stability. He said that nations refusing to sign the accords demonstrate bad intention and should be excluded from the deal [1].
"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 said [1]. "If they don't, they should not be part of this deal, in that it shows bad intention" [1].
The Abraham Accords originally served to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab nations. By making these accords a prerequisite for the Iran deal, the administration is pushing for a wider diplomatic alignment across the Middle East, a move that requires participating countries to formally recognize and establish ties with Israel before gaining a seat at the negotiating table for Iran.
“"If they don't, they should not be part of this deal, in that it shows bad intention."”
This strategy effectively uses the incentive of a stabilized Iran—a primary security concern for most Gulf states—as leverage to expand the Abraham Accords. By tying the two together, the U.S. is attempting to create a unified regional front against Iranian influence while simultaneously cementing Israel's diplomatic standing in the region.
