U.S. President Rules Out Saudi Civil Nuclear Deal Without Israel Normalisation

AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at White House in 2025.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would not proceed with a proposed civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia unless Riyadh agreed to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords.

The U.S. Department of Energy said on Wednesday that Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had signed an agreement on developing the first commercial nuclear reactors in oil-rich Saudi Arabia ⁠and that it would next go to Congress for review.

Trump has been working since his first term on a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia.

Former President Joe Biden also sought to secure a civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia and similarly linked it to the Abraham Accords, under which Riyadh would establish diplomatic relations with Israel. However, Saudi Arabia has declined to join the accords, insisting that it will not recognise Israel without a credible and irreversible pathway towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

On Thursday, Trump suddenly publicly added the condition to the deal, saying in a post ‌on ⁠social media that Saudi Arabia would have to join the accords.

Trump emphasised that on Friday in the Oval Office. "In order to do it, they have to be a member of the Abraham Accords," Trump told reporters. Trump said he did not talk about ⁠the accords with Wright before the Cabinet member signed the deal. "But it was always understood, and Chris knew, and Saudi Arabia knew," Trump said.

The U.S. President was confident that eventually it would come together. "At some point they'll join ...and they'll do their civil, to ⁠echo it, civil nuclear," Trump said.

A deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is seen as benefiting Westinghouse, co-owned by Canadian companies Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management.



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