The White House said Donald Trump will approve a civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia only if Riyadh normalises relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords….reports Asian Lite News
US President Donald Trump will approve a civil nuclear energy agreement with Saudi Arabia only if Riyadh joins the Abraham Accords and establishes diplomatic relations with Israel, the White House said on Thursday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the proposed agreement would allow only civilian nuclear cooperation and would prohibit Saudi Arabia from enriching nuclear material. She added that negotiations between the two countries were continuing.
Reading from a social media post by Trump, Leavitt said: “The civil nuclear deal, there will be no enrichment of material, an important point being made between the Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia, which pertains only to non-military use, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.”
She also quoted Trump as saying: “The United States is not opposed to civil nuclear facilities.”
The statement introduced a significant political condition to the proposed agreement, which had been announced a day earlier by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Asked why the condition was not mentioned during Wright’s announcement, Leavitt said Trump had repeatedly made his position clear.
“The president is always the final dealmaker, as you know,” she said. “He has said if they don’t join the Abraham Accords, the deal is off.”
Leavitt said Trump wanted Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and Arab nations to establish diplomatic relations with Israel as part of his broader effort to expand the Abraham Accords, which were negotiated during his first term in office.
“This is a condition that the president has spoken about many times with our Gulf and Arab allies,” she said. “He wants to see these countries sign the Abraham Accord.”
She added: “The agreement with Saudi Arabia is contingent on this condition as far as the president is concerned.”
The White House did not indicate whether Saudi Arabia had agreed to the condition. Leavitt said Trump had discussed the issue with Saudi leaders previously but did not believe he had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after issuing Thursday’s statement.
“The administration will continue to engage in those conversations,” she said.
Saudi Arabia has consistently maintained that any normalisation of relations with Israel depends on meaningful progress towards establishing a Palestinian state. Asked why the administration believed Riyadh could alter its stance, Leavitt declined to comment on Trump’s diplomatic discussions.
“This is something that he feels very strongly about and has spoken about it in the past and will continue to uphold,” she said.
Leavitt also declined to discuss whether Saudi nuclear facilities would be exempt from international inspections, saying negotiations on the agreement were still ongoing.
She said the proposed arrangement would ensure American companies received priority access to Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear energy programme.
“The deal that has been discussed thus far and will continue to be discussed absolutely puts America first,” she said. “The agreement will ultimately benefit American industry workers and supply chain.”
Asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had requested that Saudi participation in the Abraham Accords be made a condition for the deal, Leavitt replied: “Not to my knowledge, no.”
She said the proposal originated with Trump, whose administration brokered the Abraham Accords during his first term.
