Trump makes Saudi nuclear deal conditional on joining Abraham Accords and normalising ties with Israel
A 30-year US-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation pact signed on 22 July will not take effect unless Riyadh joins the Abraham Accords, President Donald Trump stated on Truth Social, walking back earlier reports that the deal carried no such condition.
The agreement and its terms
The United States and Saudi Arabia signed a 30-year civil nuclear cooperation agreement on Wednesday, 22 July. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman executed the pact, known as a 123 Agreement, alongside a bilateral safeguards agreement. The deal permits American companies such as Westinghouse to transfer nuclear technology and build reactor infrastructure in the kingdom, effectively shutting out competitors from Russia and China. The Energy Department said the agreement abides by non-proliferation standards in the US Atomic Energy Act, which it called among the world's strongest.
The agreements will ensure the highest safety standards and also ensure that no nuclear weapons are proliferated.
Enrichment: what the sources say
Publicly available details differ on whether the kingdom may enrich uranium. Reuters reported that the deal allows Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium and reprocess spent fuel, both potential pathways to a weapon, and noted that the UAE agreed to forgo both in its 2009 US nuclear pact. ANSA likewise reported that the accord opens the door to enriched uranium after a feasibility study. However, in his Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump insisted the deal includes no enrichment, writing: "The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!)… pertains only to non-military use." The WirtschaftsWoche report echoed this, stating that Trump meant the Saudis are not permitted to enrich uranium under the agreement.
The Abraham Accords condition
Hours after the deal was announced, Trump attached a decisive political condition. "The Civil Nuclear Deal… will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords," he wrote on Truth Social. The Accords, brokered during Trump's first term in 2020, normalised relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. Saudi Arabia has so far refused to recognise Israel. Trump's statement surprised observers because no such clause had been mentioned in the initial Energy Department release the previous evening. The post explicitly stated the US has "no objections to civil nuclear facilities (without enrichment)."
Congressional review and criticism
The 123 Agreement now goes to Congress, which has 90 session days to raise objections. A two-thirds majority would be required to override a presidential veto if Trump rejects any resolution of disapproval. Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat, said: "They are allowing Saudi Arabia, a belligerent and authoritarian nation, to develop nuclear weapons technologies while starting a war with Iran under the guise of preventing an Iranian nuclear bomb." Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back, telling reporters in the Philippines that "the US is not going to reach any agreement with any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation."
The US is not going to reach any agreement with any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation.
Regional fallout and the Iran war
The deal lands in a Middle East already convulsed by exchanges of fire between the US and Iran. Trump, shortly before receiving the remains of four American service members killed in the Iran conflict, threatened to bomb and destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant each time Iran fires on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said since at least 2018 that if Iran builds a bomb, Saudi Arabia will be compelled to match it with nuclear means. Non-proliferation analyst Henry Sokolski warned that "what Saudi Arabia does, the UAE, Turkey, and Egypt will also do."
- US Energy Department announces signing of 123 Agreement and bilateral safeguards pact.
- Trump posts on Truth Social, conditioning the deal on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords.
- Congress reviews the agreement; deal enters force automatically unless a veto-proof two-thirds majority objects.
What happens next
The immediate next step is the 90-day congressional review period. If lawmakers do not muster a veto-proof majority against the deal, it enters into force automatically. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's decision on the Abraham Accords becomes the political gate: without recognising Israel, Riyadh cannot receive US nuclear technology under the terms Trump has now set. The IAEA was not a party to the bilateral agreement, and Saudi Arabia is not a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, leaving open questions about how uranium supply and technology transfers will be monitored in practice.
