Saudis must recognise Israel for nuclear deal, says Trump - Published The deal between the US and Saudi Arabia to help the Gulf kingdom develop nuclear energy is dependent on Riyadh recognising the State of Israel, President Donald Trump has said. "The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!)... 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," Trump said on Truth Social. It was not immediately clear if the condition of joining the accords was stipulated in the text of the nuclear deal - which has not been released - or that Saudi Arabia had agreed to that condition. Saudi Arabia has not responded to Trump's remarks so far.

- Trump's nuclear deal with Saudis jettisons longstanding US demands - Published21 hours ago - Yemen's Houthis attack Saudi tanker as US launches more Iran strikes - Published17 hours ago White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Trump had discussed the condition to Saudi leaders on numerous previous occasions. "He has said if they don't join the Abraham Accords, the deal is off," she said. "So we'll continue to have those conversations with our Saudi counterparts moving forward." Trump's comments come come after criticism from experts that the US-Saudi deal announced on Wednesday could run the risk of future nuclear proliferation in an already unstable region.

Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed similar concerns, though Trump's Republican Party controls both the upper and lower chambers and opponents of the deal do not appear to have the votes needed to block it. According to the US Department of Energy, it includes a "peaceful nuclear co-operation agreement" and a "bilateral safeguards agreement". "Together, these two agreements lay the legal foundation for a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership that advances several priority economic and strategic objectives, including nuclear nonproliferation," a statement from the department said.

It said the agreement would be sent to the US Congress for review. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Thursday that it was aware of US and Saudi plans for a "bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement and the plan to ask the IAEA to implement verification measures in relation to this". "We look forward to receiving the request for such verification and to working with the US and KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] in ensuring the implementation of those measures." During Trump's first term as US president, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords, resulting in a historic normalisation of relations between Israel and two Arab nations - the first in decades.

Sudan, Morocco and Kazakhstan have since also signed them, too. Saudi Arabia has previously said it will not do so without the establishment of a Palestinian state, but the White House said the deal would be off if Riyadh did not join the accords. Israel has welcomed Trump's statement.

Posting on X, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Saudi Arabia joining the accords "would be an historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East".