Trump Pushes Abraham Accords Expansion as Iran Deal Nears
On the morning of May 25, 2026, President Donald Trump (R)posted to Truth Social demanding that six Muslim-majority nations — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, and Jordan — simultaneously sign the Abraham Accords as a condition of participating in any Iran peace agreement. “It should be mandatory,” Trump wrote, naming the six countries by name and ordering Saudi Arabia and Qatar to go first.
The demand came two days after a Saturday conference call in which Trump personally put the question to those nations’ leaders — who, according to a U.S. official familiar with the call, went silent. “Trump joked and asked if they are still there,” the official told Axios. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who had previously signaled willingness to normalize but conditioned it on a pathway to Palestinian statehood, did not publicly respond.
The diplomatic offensive is inseparable from the Iran peace framework taking shape around the same dates. Operation Epic Fury — the February 28, 2026 U.S.-Israel joint strike campaign that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — left Iran negotiating from a position of severe military and economic damage. A 60-day Strait of Hormuz reopening deal is now described by U.S. officials as “largely negotiated.” Trump wants the Abraham Accords signed before the ink dries on that agreement.
- 4original Accords signatoriesUAE · Bahrain · Sudan · Morocco (2020)
- 6nations Trump is now targetingSaudi Arabia · Qatar · Turkey · Pakistan · Egypt · Jordan
- $142BU.S.-Saudi defense dealsigned during Trump's May 2025 Riyadh visit — the largest in history
- 60 daysIran deal windowStrait of Hormuz reopens; enriched uranium disposal to be negotiated
- Feb 28, 2026Operation Epic FuryU.S.-Israel joint strikes — Khamenei killed; son Mojtaba reportedly directing negotiations
The Abraham Accords were announced in August and September 2020 and signed at the White House on September 15, 2020. In one ceremony, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed), and the Foreign Minister of Bahrain (Abdullatif al-Zayani) signed the Declaration. The UAE and Bahrain became the first Arab countries to formally recognize Israel since Jordan in 1994 — and did so without a Palestinian state as a precondition.
Sudan and Moroccofollowed later that year. Sudan’s deal came with removal from the U.S. terror list and access to international financial aid — it remains unratified. Morocco’s came with U.S. recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara — a long-sought Rabat objective. Each agreement was brokered under the same framework: bilateral gain in exchange for normalization, with Palestinian statehood not a prerequisite.
By late 2023, the biggest prize — Saudi Arabia — was nearly in hand. A U.S.-brokered normalization framework between Riyadh and Jerusalem was weeks from announcement when, on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched its attack on Israel. Saudi negotiations froze overnight. MBS signaled publicly that no deal was possible while the Gaza war was ongoing, and that Saudi Arabia would require a “clear and credible path” to Palestinian statehood as a precondition of any normalization. That position has not formally changed.
Trump’s escalation had two stages. First, a Saturday phone call (May 23–24) with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain. Trump used the call — convened to discuss the Iran peace framework — to pivot to the Abraham Accords, telling leaders he expected each of them who lacked a formal peace agreement with Israel to sign on. The silence that followed was, by multiple accounts, awkward. Trump quipped to ask if they were still on the line.
The second stage was the public post on Truth Social on May 25. The language was unambiguous: “mandatory,” “at a minimum, simultaneously,” and a direct threat — nations that refuse “should not be part of this deal in that it shows bad intention.” Envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were tasked with following up in the coming weeks. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R)had separately described “significant progress” in U.S.-Iran talks.
After all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords. It should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit. If they don't, they should not be part of this deal in that it shows bad intention. Negotiations are proceeding nicely, but time is running out!
I am mandatorily requesting that all countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled world coalition. There has never been anything like this in history — perhaps the greatest PEACE deal ever made. God Bless America!
“It should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit. If they don't, they should not be part of this deal.”
President Donald Trump (R) · Truth Social · May 25, 2026 · reported by Times of Israel, Bloomberg, Axios
Saudi Arabia is not the UAE. Riyadh is the custodian of Mecca and Medina, the de facto leader of the Sunni world, and the anchor of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Its normalization with Israel would carry a symbolic weight that no prior Abraham Accord — not UAE, not Bahrain, not Morocco — could match. That is exactly why it is the hardest to close.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmantold Trump directly in November 2025, per Axios reporting, that he wants Saudi Arabia in the Abraham Accords — but that any agreement must provide a clear and credible path to Palestinian statehood. That condition is not a diplomatic nicety; it is MBS’s answer to the reality that hostile Saudi public opinion would punish a normalization deal that appeared to abandon the Palestinian cause. Saudi Arabia cannot adopt the UAE’s approach of normalization with minimal domestic justification. It needs a framework that plays across the Arab street, the wider Islamic sphere, and the Gulf.
1. A credible, time-bound path to Palestinian statehood. MBS has been explicit: this is non-negotiable. The November 2025 Axios report confirmed it directly. Saudi Arabia will not do the UAE deal — normalization with a handshake and an F-35 discussion.
2. A U.S. security guarantee or defense treaty. Riyadh has sought a formal mutual defense commitment from Washington similar to NATO Article 5 obligations — something that would require Senate ratification and that the Trump administration has been reluctant to push through Congress.
3. Civil nuclear cooperation.Saudi Arabia wants the right to enrich uranium on its own soil — something the U.S. has historically conditioned on a “123 Agreement” gold standard. The November 2025 White House fact sheet noted an agreement on “civil nuclear cooperation” was advanced, but the enrichment question remained unresolved.
Where it stands:MBS has given Trump a roadmap, not a refusal. But the roadmap runs through Palestinian statehood — which Netanyahu’s current coalition government will not accept.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirms that any normalization framework must be anchored in a credible, irreversible pathway to Palestinian statehood. The Kingdom remains engaged in diplomatic dialogue consistent with this position.
Qatar is in a uniquely complicated position. Doha has served as the primary diplomatic intermediary between the U.S. and Hamas in Gaza ceasefire talks — a role that makes public normalization with Israel politically impossible while Hamas leadership still operates from Qatari soil. Qatar hosts the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command at Al Udeid Air Base, giving Washington significant leverage. But Doha has never shown appetite for joining the Abraham Accords framework and has no domestic constituency for it.
Turkeyis a NATO member — formally allied with both the United States and, through the Alliance, with Israel’s strategic partners. But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cultivated a posture of hostility toward Israeli military operations in Gaza since October 2023, suspended trade with Israel in 2024, and built domestic political brand around Palestinian solidarity. Erdogan joining the Abraham Accords is not a near-term possibility on current Turkish political dynamics.
Pakistansurprised observers most. Islamabad has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel and significant domestic religious opposition to normalization. The silence on the May 23-24 conference call was most acute from Islamabad’s delegation. The Jerusalem Post reported that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey developed a draft trilateral defense agreement in January 2026 — a structure that pointedly does not include Israel.
Significant progress has been made in U.S.-Iran negotiations toward a framework that reopens the Strait of Hormuz and addresses the nuclear file. The Abraham Accords have always been the President's vision for a broader peace architecture. That vision is now within reach.
Operation Epic Fury — the February 28, 2026 U.S.-Israel joint strike campaign — killed Supreme Leader Ali Khameneiand several of Iran’s top military commanders. Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khameneihas reportedly been directing Iran’s strategy and negotiations since his father’s death, though he has not been formally designated Supreme Leader. U.S. intelligence assessed as of early May 2026 that Iran’s leadership structure remains functional but severely degraded.
The framework under negotiation as of May 24, 2026 — reported by Axios in an exclusive sourced to multiple U.S. officials — contemplates a 60-day initial agreement under which:
Strait of Hormuz: Iran agrees to reopen the Strait with no tolls, clear mines it deployed, and allow free passage of commercial shipping. The U.S. lifts its blockade on Iranian ports.
Iranian oil: The U.S. issues sanctions waivers allowing Iran to sell oil freely during the 60-day window — providing immediate economic relief that strengthens the hardliner case for accepting the deal internally.
Enriched uranium: Iran agreed in principle to dispose of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — but an Iranian source subsequently denied this, saying the nuclear file was not part of the preliminary agreement. Dispute is live.
Phase 2: Broader nuclear deal and permanent ceasefire terms to be negotiated within the 60-day window. No signed agreement as of May 25.
Trump’s add-on:Abraham Accords participation from Gulf and regional nations is now inserted as a demand on the wider peace architecture — not part of the bilateral U.S.-Iran framework per se, but a condition Trump has publicly tied to “this deal.”
“Negotiations are proceeding nicely, but time is running out!”
President Donald Trump (R) · Truth Social · May 25, 2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not respond to requests for comment on Trump’s May 25 posts, according to Times of Israel reporting. Netanyahu has historically treated Abraham Accords expansion — and specifically Saudi normalization — as his foreign policy crown jewel. Saudi recognition of Israel would validate the strategic logic that underpinned the original Oslo framework: that Arab state-level peace with Israel is achievable regardless of the Palestinian issue.
The problem is Netanyahu’s own coalition. The Prime Minister governs with far-right partners — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir— who have explicitly opposed any deal that involves a pathway to Palestinian statehood. Saudi Arabia’s condition and Netanyahu’s domestic constraint are in direct tension. Trump has, for now, decoupled his Abraham Accords demand from the Palestinian statehood question — framing it as a condition of the Iran deal, not a two-state commitment. Whether that reframe holds diplomatically remains to be seen.
The Abraham Accords are the most significant achievement in Middle East peacemaking in a generation. Israel stands ready to expand the circle of peace with any nation prepared to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist. We commend President Trump's historic diplomatic vision.
The most striking line in Trump’s May 25 Truth Social post was not about Saudi Arabia. It was about Iran. Trump wrote that once Iran signs its agreement with the United States, “it would be an honor to have them also be part of the Abraham Accords.” Iran does not recognize Israel’s existence. The Islamic Republic has been the primary state sponsor of the Palestinian resistance and of Hezbollah, which fought multiple wars against Israel. The prospect of Iran in a normalization framework with Israel — even a long-term aspirational framing — is without modern precedent.
Trump has floated large concepts before as opening positions in negotiations. Regional analysts note that the Iran-in-Accords line is almost certainly a negotiating ceiling — a vision of maximalist success that gives Trump rhetorical room and frames any partial achievement as progress toward something larger. Whether Iranian leadership, in its current post-Khamenei state, has any appetite for anything resembling normalization with Israel is a question the intelligence community has not publicly answered.
Envoys Jared Kushner — who architected the original 2020 Accords — and Steve Witkoffare tasked with following up with the six nations Trump named. Kushner knows the Saudi relationship better than almost any American official. He was the primary negotiator during the 2023 near-deal. He also knows better than most where MBS’s redlines sit.
The leverage structure has changed dramatically since 2023. Iran is damaged and negotiating. The Gaza ceasefire is in place. The Strait of Hormuz is a shared interest — every Gulf state, including Saudi Arabia, has an enormous economic stake in Hormuz remaining open. That shared interest creates a pressure point. And Trump has explicitly made Accords participation a condition of Iranian sanctions relief — which means countries that want the economic benefits of an Iran normalization will have to weigh the Abraham Accords ask against their own economic interests in the Gulf’s reopening.
Saudi Arabia: Wants U.S. security guarantee + civil nuclear rights + Palestinian statehood pathway. Gains: all three could theoretically be on the table in a Trump second-term deal. Risk: Netanyahu coalition blocks Palestinian statehood component. Status — conditional interest, no commitment.
Qatar:Hosts U.S. CENTCOM forward HQ at Al Udeid. Enormous U.S. leverage. But Qatar’s Hamas mediation role makes normalization domestically and diplomatically toxic right now. Status — no appetite.
Turkey:NATO member with Erdogan’s political brand built on Palestinian solidarity. Zero domestic incentive. EU membership talks are dead. U.S. leverage limited. Status — non-starter in current political cycle.
Pakistan: Landlocked nuclear state. No trade relationship with Israel. Enormous domestic religious opposition. Has just signed a trilateral defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey that excludes Israel. Status — near-zero probability.
Egypt · Jordan:Both have existing peace treaties with Israel (Camp David 1979; Wadi Araba 1994). Trump may be asking them to “upgrade” or formally sign onto the Accords architecture — a lower bar but still politically sensitive given their street-level populations.
Trump’s May 25 Abraham Accords demand is simultaneously the most ambitious Middle East diplomatic gambit of his second term and its least immediately achievable. The original 2020 Accords worked because UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco each had something they wanted more than they feared domestic backlash. Saudi Arabia wants three things that require Netanyahu to do something his coalition will not permit, the U.S. Senate to do something the administration hasn’t asked it to do, and Palestinian politics to cooperate. Qatar and Turkey have no viable on-ramp. Pakistan has no incentive. What Trump does have is leverage: a 60-day Iran deal window, the promise of sanctions relief, and Jared Kushner. In 2020, that was enough. In 2026, the targets are harder. The silence on that conference call said everything.