US President Donald Trump on Monday (May 25) urged Muslim-majority nations across the Middle East and beyond to normalise relations with Israel as part of the emerging Iran peace deal, framing the move as a condition for the agreement.
In a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform, Trump listed countries whose leaders he said he had spoken with on Saturday about ending the war with Iran. “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,” he wrote.
The countries named were Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (already a member), Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain (already a member). Trump said the process “should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit.” Nations that declined, he warned, “should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention,” though he allowed that “one or two” might have an acceptable reason.
The Abraham Accords, brokered under Trump in 2020, govern the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Israel and states historically hostile to it. While welcomed in diplomatic circles, they remain unpopular across much of the region because they do not address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The demand sharpens Trump’s framing of an Iran settlement he says is largely negotiated but not yet signed. It follows Iran’s own outreach to the same Arab capitals, with Foreign Minister Araghchi calling Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning Washington has another way to proceed if talks fail. (Source: AFP.)
