President Donald Trump announced Thursday that a landmark nuclear agreement signed with Saudi Arabia is contingent upon the kingdom establishing diplomatic relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords. The condition was added after the fact via a Truth Social post, throwing the future of the deal into confusion, according to the Washington Post.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that the “deal is off” if the Saudis do not join the Abraham Accords, a diplomatic framework that previously led to normalized relations between Israel and Morocco, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. Leavitt stated that the administration will continue talking with Saudi counterparts to finalize the deal and hopefully see them join the Abraham Accords very soon.
Terms of the Nuclear Agreement
President Trump explicitly stated in his social media post that there will be no enrichment of material,
emphasizing that the deal pertains only to non-military use. However, reports from the Wall Street Journal indicate the deal may include a “black box” uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia run by U.S. companies. A joint two-year study will determine if such a facility is needed or if Saudi Arabia should import commercial-grade low-enriched uranium. If the U.S. rejects indigenous enrichment after the study, Saudi Arabia would reportedly be barred from enriching independently or with another foreign partner for 10 years, according to Time.
Regional Security and Nonproliferation Concerns
The deal has sparked warnings about a potential nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut posted on social media that the agreement could disincentivize Iran from limiting its own program. This comes as the U.S. and Israel continue a war against Iran, which included bombing Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, to force Tehran to renounce its nuclear ambitions.
Former Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman posted on X that Israel must oppose the deal with all our might,
arguing that a Saudi civilian program would eventually lead to nuclear weapons. Other critics, including former acting U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency Laura Kennedy, warned the agreement would set a dangerous precedent.
Thomas Countryman, a former assistant secretary of state, stated the deal reverses 50 years of U.S. leadership in global nonproliferation architecture.
Concerns are further heightened by previous statements from Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told CBS in 2018 that Riyadh would without a doubt
develop a nuclear weapon if Iran did so.
Congressional Review and Geopolitical Stakes
Under the Atomic Energy Act, the agreement must be sent to Congress for review, with a 90-day window for the process. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted Thursday that the deal would not lead to proliferation because U.S. contractors, including believed major contractor Westinghouse, would handle the project and allow Washington to monitor it.
The addition of the Israel normalization condition may be an attempt to secure support from pro-Israel lawmakers who might otherwise oppose the technology transfer. However, the condition may also create a stalemate; Riyadh has previously indicated that normalization with Israel must include a path to a Palestinian state, a requirement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as incompatible with Israel’s security, according to IBTimes.
The Saudi energy ministry and the Saudi Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the new conditions. Analysts suggest that if the deal fails, Saudi Arabia may turn to Russia or China for nuclear technology with fewer geopolitical requirements.
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