In a post on Truth Social Thursday, Trump said that the recently announced “Civil Nuclear Deal” to provide Saudi Arabia with a nuclear program “pertains only to non-military use” and “is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.”
The post came after a Wall Street Journal report Tuesday evening that said, citing American officials, that the U.S. would allow Saudi Arabia to receive nuclear power reactors and potentially a facility for enriching uranium locally, with American companies contracted to construct the facilities. Reportedly, Saudi Arabia would not have to commit to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s “Additional Protocol” of monitoring and inspections.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained silent on the deal itself but celebrated Trump’s conditioning the agreement on the normalization of Saudi–Israeli ties. The PM’s office posted on X that “Saudi Arabia’s joining of the Abraham Accords would be an historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East.”
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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has maintained that his country will acquire a nuclear weapon if Iran gets one.
Asked by a reporter why the condition of Saudi–Israel normalization was not mentioned yesterday when the U.S. Secretary of Energy announced the deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The President is always the final deal maker. He has said if they don’t join the Abraham Accords the deal is off.” When asked by another reporter why Saudi Arabia should be allowed to get a nuclear program but not Iran, Leavitt responded that “the deal that has been discussed thus far…absolutely puts America first.”
One current and one former U.S. official familiar with the deal told Middle East Eye that the Abraham Accords were never mentioned as a condition for the agreement during negotiations. “Normalization was never listed as a condition,” one of the sources told MEE. “Not once.”
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