Trump urges Arab leaders to normalize Israel ties as Iran deal nears

Trump Pushes Arab and Muslim Leaders to Join Abraham Accords After Iran Deal

President Donald Trump told the leaders of several Arab and Muslim-majority countries during a phone call on Saturday that he expects them to normalize relations with Israel and join the Abraham Accords once a deal to end the war with Iran is reached, according to Axios. The request was reportedly met with silence from the leaders on the call, the Times of Israel reported.timesofisrael

The call came as Washington and Tehran appeared close to signing a memorandum of understanding to end hostilities, with a senior U.S. official saying the deal could come “in the coming days”. Trump declared Saturday that the agreement had been “largely negotiated,” though disputes over wording, sanctions relief, frozen assets, and the terms of uranium disposal remain unresolved.timesofisrael

Netanyahu Pushes for Nuclear Dismantlement

In a separate call, Trump assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would insist on the complete dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites and the removal of all enriched uranium from Iranian territory as conditions for any final agreement. Netanyahu posted on social media that the two leaders “agreed that any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear danger”.jpost

A source familiar with the call told Channel News Asia that “Trump made it clear that he will stand firm in negotiations on his consistent demand for the dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program and the removal of all enriched uranium from its territory” and “will not sign a final agreement without these conditions being met”.channelnewsasia

Deal Framework Still Unsettled

The MoU under negotiation would extend the existing ceasefire by 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and begin lifting the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports. Iran has given verbal and written assurances on the “disposal” of enriched uranium but has not specified how stockpiles would be eliminated. Unresolved issues include the release of billions in frozen Iranian assets and the pace of sanctions relief.aljazeera

Trump’s push to expand the Abraham Accords — which currently include the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Kazakhstan — represents an effort to leverage the Iran war’s endgame into a broader regional realignment. Saudi Arabia and Syria have shown interest but have not yet committed. Whether Gulf states will agree to normalization with Israel without progress on Palestinian statehood remains the central unresolved question.britannica