President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia must join the Abraham Accords before the U.S. moves forward with any civilian nuclear cooperation.
This condition links a major energy and technology agreement to the normalization of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. By making the nuclear deal contingent on the Abraham Accords, the administration is using technical cooperation as leverage to reshape Middle East diplomacy.
Trump announced the requirement on July 23 via a post on the social-media platform X [1]. The statement specifies that the kingdom's membership in the accords is a prerequisite for any further progress on a civilian nuclear agreement [2].
"Saudi Arabia has to be a member of the Abraham Accords before we can move forward with any civilian nuclear cooperation," Trump said on X [1].
The move signals a shift in how the U.S. manages its strategic partnerships in the region. While Saudi Arabia has sought to diversify its energy sector through nuclear power, the U.S. is now tying that ambition to a broader regional peace framework [3].
"They have to be a member of the Abraham Accords before any nuclear deal can move forward," Trump said in the post [2].
The administration is positioning the nuclear agreement as a tool to encourage wider stability. By requiring the kingdom to formalize ties with Israel, the U.S. aims to expand the network of countries committed to the accords, a goal that has been a central pillar of the current diplomatic strategy [3].
“"Saudi Arabia has to be a member of the Abraham Accords before we can move forward with any civilian nuclear cooperation,"”
This policy shift transforms a technical energy agreement into a geopolitical instrument. By conditioning nuclear cooperation on the Abraham Accords, the U.S. is attempting to force a diplomatic breakthrough between Saudi Arabia and Israel, potentially altering the balance of power and alliance structures across the Middle East.
