Trump announces condition for Saudi nuclear deal
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the nuclear deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia requires the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel, a significant condition not previously mentioned as the deal was announced, reports BritPanorama.
He emphasized that there will be “no enrichment of material” under the agreement, writing on Truth Social that the deal signed the day before by the Energy Department “pertains only to non-military use.”
Trump further noted that the deal “is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” the U.S.-brokered agreements aimed at normalizing relations with Israel that emerged during his first term, signed by several majority Muslim countries including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and later Sudan and Morocco.
Despite these stipulations, there was no mention of them when the Energy Department announced the deal on X on Wednesday; the text of the agreement remains unpublished, and the Trump administration has provided no public details.
The agreement, signed by U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Saudi Minister of Energy His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, is yet to receive congressional approval and has raised concerns about potential nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
Historically, a requirement to normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia had been a prerequisite for any deal that would enable the kingdom to enrich uranium, though Saudi leaders maintain that such normalization is contingent upon genuine progress toward a Palestinian state.
The Energy Department stated that the agreements “lay the legal foundation for a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership that advances several priority economic and strategic objectives, including nuclear nonproliferation.”
Earlier, a senior administration official indicated that Trump had approved the deal.
It has been noted that the arrangement is not expected to entail the most stringent level of U.N. inspections, nor ban uranium enrichment or reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. According to several sources familiar with the agreement, the pact would permit U.S. companies to establish a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia, pending a joint U.S.-Saudi study to assess feasibility.
As the situation develops, the implications for regional stability remain a crucial concern.
