Trump Links Saudi Nuclear Deal to Accords

PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak to the media on the day of a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

President Donald Trump said Thursday that a proposed U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear agreement will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords and normalizes relations with Israel, a step the kingdom has so far refused to take.

The United States and Saudi Arabia announced the civil nuclear agreement on Wednesday. The proposal would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium and build nuclear reactors using U.S. technology without requiring the snap U.N. inspections that Washington has demanded from Iran. The agreement must still be approved by the U.S. Congress before it can take effect.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the agreement would be limited to civilian nuclear energy and remained contingent on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords.

"The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!)... pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords," Trump wrote.

He also wrote:

"The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities."

The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Saudi Arabia has long maintained that it will not join the Abraham Accords without an agreed roadmap toward Palestinian statehood.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain became the first Arab nations in a quarter century to establish diplomatic relations with Israel when they signed the Abraham Accords during Trump's first term in 2020. Morocco and Sudan later joined the agreements.

Israel, which has expressed concern that a Saudi nuclear agreement could contribute to a regional arms race, welcomed Trump's condition.

"Saudi Arabia's joining of the Abraham Accords would be an historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The Trump administration said Wednesday that the proposed agreement complies with the nonproliferation requirements of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, which it described as among the strongest in the world.

The agreement would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium and reprocess nuclear waste, both of which are potential pathways to developing a nuclear weapon. By comparison, the United Arab Emirates agreed to forgo both uranium enrichment and nuclear-waste reprocessing when it signed a similar agreement with the United States in 2009.

It remains unclear what Trump meant when he wrote that there would be "no enrichment" under the agreement, and it was not immediately clear whether he was referring specifically to weapons-grade enrichment. Uranium used in nuclear weapons is typically enriched to about 90%, while fuel for civilian nuclear reactors is generally enriched to up to 6%.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, said the agreement supports its efforts to diversify energy sources and includes what it described as the "highest international standards" for nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation.

(Source: Reuters)