Trump links Abraham Accords to any Iran deal

By Doina Chiacu and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - ‌U.S. President Donald Trump said ​on Monday ​that he asked Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to join the Abraham Accords en masse to normalize relations with Israel as he tries to negotiate an agreement to end the war with Iran.

Pakistan rejected the proposal. None of the ‌other countries has so far publicly reacted to Trump's demand and a positive response was unlikely when the public ⁠mistrust of Israel in these Muslim nations remains high over the scale of its military offensive in Gaza.

Trump said he spoke on Saturday to leaders of those countries, as well as ‌the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which ‌have already signed the accords, a set of agreements to normalize relations with Israel.

"I am mandatorily requesting that all Countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its Agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an Honor ​to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

He cited "all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together."

Trump’s statement reflected an attempt to use Iran ceasefire diplomacy for a wider ⁠push around the Abraham Accords, according to a Pakistani source familiar with the matter, who also said the two issues were “not interlinked and cannot be made so."

"Pakistan is under no compulsion to adhere ​to any such demand,” the source said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's post.

DEEPLY SENSITIVE ISSUE

Trump said one or two of the countries he spoke with ​may have a reason for not joining, but most should be "ready, willing, and able ‌to make this Settlement with Iran a far more Historic Event than it would, otherwise, be."

For Saudi Arabia — the birthplace of Islam and custodian of its two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina - recognizing Israel would be more than ⁠just a diplomatic milestone. It is a deeply sensitive national security issue tied to resolving one of the region’s oldest and most intractable conflicts.

The kingdom's longstanding position has been that it would not sign the accords unless there is an agreement on a roadmap to Palestinian statehood.

Egypt, Jordan and Turkey already have diplomatic relations with Israel, even ⁠as those ties have been strained since the start of the Gaza war.

Trump also said negotiations with Iran were "proceeding nicely," but gave no indication a deal was imminent.

Longtime ​Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham embraced the idea of linking Iran to the Abraham Accords as something that would lead to regional integration and create "a powerhouse for economic opportunity."

Others see the strategy as something to make an Iran deal more palatable to skeptics.

"Trump is trying to sell an Iran deal as an Abraham Accords sequel: good ‌for Israel, good for the region, tough enough for Washington," said Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group.

"But he is trading one fantasy for another — from forcing Iran to surrender to pretending a fragile ‌deal can anchor a new Middle East order."

Trump has repeatedly said he wants to expand the accords that he brokered during his first term in the White House.

The ⁠United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed during Trump's first term ‌in 2020, breaking a longstanding taboo to become ​the first Arab states to recognise Israel in a quarter century. Morocco and Sudan followed suit.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington, additional reporting by Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem, Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Alison Williams, Chizu Nomiyama, Rod Nickel ‌and Deepa Babington)

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