U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the implementation of a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement between Washington and Riyadh is conditional on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords. At the same time, the office of Israel’s prime minister stated that Saudi Arabia’s accession to the accords could represent a turning point in the Middle East peace process.
In practice, Saudi Arabia’s joining the Abraham Accords would mean the normalization of relations with Israel and the formal recognition of the Israeli state by Riyadh an issue that has been one of the central topics of diplomatic discussions in the region in recent years.
On Thursday, the first of Asad, Trump wrote in a post on the social media platform Truth Social that the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia would be approved, but that its full implementation would depend on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords. He described the agreements as “respected and successful.”
The U.S. president also emphasized that the cooperation agreement is intended solely for peaceful, civilian purposes and would not include the enrichment of nuclear materials. According to Trump, the proposed program is designed exclusively for non-military applications.
In response, the office of Israel’s prime minister stated that the joint military action by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the weakening of what it described as “Tehran’s terrorist axis,” had created conditions for expanding the process of peace and normalization across the region.
Meanwhile, some experts have warned that any nuclear cooperation in the Middle East, even for civilian purposes, could potentially increase the risk of the future spread of nuclear technologies and capabilities, further complicating the region’s security environment.
Iran’s nuclear program has also remained one of the main points of contention between the United States, Israel, and the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent months, and continues to be at the center of political and security developments in the region.
Trump played a mediating role in the formation of the Abraham Accords in 2020, an initiative that led to the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Following that, Sudan and Morocco also normalized diplomatic relations with Israel.
The United States and Saudi Arabia signed a nuclear cooperation agreement known as the “123 Agreement” on Wednesday. Under the agreement, a framework for cooperation between the two countries on the peaceful use of nuclear energy has been established. According to some sources, it could pave the way for the development of Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear infrastructure.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
