President Donald Trump demands Arab allies sign Abraham Accords peace deals with Israel
Tampa: Donald Trump has significantly expanded the scope of Iran peace talks by demanding that Arab nations sign agreements with Israel and threatening to freeze key Gulf allies out of the negotiations if they fail to do so.
The US president confirmed Saturday that in a phone call with leaders of Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan, he pressed them to join the Abraham Accords, a diplomatic agreement from his first term that envisioned Arab nations normalizing relations with Israel.
“It may be possible for one or two people to have a reason not to do this, and that will be accepted, but most people should be ready, willing and able to make this Deal with Iran a much more Historic Event than it otherwise would be,” Trump said on social media.
He said he “imperatively demands” that all countries join the agreements. “This should start with Saudi Arabia and Qatar signing immediately, and everyone else should follow suit. Otherwise, they should not be part of this Agreement as it is a sign of bad faith.”
Trump also claimed that Arab leaders would be “honored” to have Iran join the Abraham Accords once an agreement is signed to end the war; He would do the same. “Wow, that would be something special!” he said.
“This will be the most important Agreement ever signed by any of the Great Countries that have always been in Conflict. Nothing, past or future, can surpass it.”
The US president’s social media post came one day later US news site Axios reported that Arab leaders were surprised When Trump asked them to sign deals on Iran in a phone call over the weekend.
“There was silence on the line and Trump joked and asked if they were still there,” a US official told Axios on Sunday (US time).
Middle Eastern analysts were generally skeptical that Trump would succeed in rallying support for the Abraham Accords as part of the Iran negotiations, especially given prevailing Arab sentiment against the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A charitable interpretation of Trump’s strategy is that he is trying to solve a problem by bundling it with others and bringing in more stakeholders, said Dan Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel who is now at the Atlantic Council think tank.
Shapiro told
Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East expert and negotiator at the U.S. State Department, noted a recent joint statement by Arab nations strongly condemning Israeli minister Ben Gvir for mocking activists on a flotilla headed for Gaza while in Israeli custody.
In the statement signed by the foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and other countries, Gvir was accused of a “disgraceful attack on human dignity” and a violation of Israel’s obligations under international law. They also condemned him for his provocative actions against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“It’s ridiculous that Trump is pressuring Gulf countries to join the Abraham Accords after this statement,” Miller said. “Trump has a poor track record of correctly reading his rivals, namely Iran, and now he’s misreading America’s partners in the Gulf.”
Some of Trump’s political allies supported the move to pressure Arab countries on the Abraham Accords. Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a key supporter of military action against Iran, called it a “great move” and warned America’s Gulf allies that there would be consequences for saying no.
Trump has long wanted Saudi Arabia in particular to join the agreements and normalize relations with Israel. Riyadh argues that it will not do so without a meaningful and irreversible path towards a Palestinian state. Member countries so far are Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Trump, meanwhile, said talks with Iran were “progressing well” but gave no indication that a breakthrough was possible on key aspects of the deal, such as the fate of Iran’s uranium stockpiles, restrictions on its ability to enrich future uranium or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The war began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched a joint offensive against Iran, but a fragile ceasefire has been in effect since April 8.
Most reports indicate that negotiators are pursuing a framework agreement that would gradually reopen the strait and begin a 30- to 60-day period of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the United States easing its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
“It’ll just be a Big Deal for everyone or no Deal at all – Back to the War Front and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever – And no one wants that!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday (US time).
In Tehran, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed progress in the talks but said Iranian officials would not react to every social media post or statement by the American side, according to state-run media.
“It is fair to say that we have reached an agreement on many issues. However, whether this means that an agreement is close to being reached is something that no one can claim at this stage,” he said, as quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
