Trump seeks wider Abraham Accords push

Washington has moved to fold Middle East normalisation into its Iran diplomacy, with President Donald Trump urging key Muslim-majority states to join the Abraham Accords as negotiations with Tehran enter a delicate phase.

Trump used a Truth Social post to say talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran were “proceeding nicely”, while warning that failure to reach what he called a “great deal” could send the parties back to the “battlefront and shooting”. The remarks placed Israel’s regional acceptance at the centre of a wider diplomatic bargain that the White House hopes could reduce conflict risks, expand trade corridors and reshape strategic alignments across the Gulf and beyond.

The president named Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan among countries he wants to see aligned with the Abraham Accords, the normalisation framework launched during his first term in 2020. The original agreements opened formal ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, later followed by Morocco and Sudan, though Sudan’s path has been complicated by domestic conflict and uncompleted ratification.

Trump’s latest push reflects a broader attempt to turn a possible Iran understanding into a regional package rather than a narrow security arrangement. The approach seeks to bind de-escalation with Tehran to a parallel effort to widen Israel’s diplomatic and commercial acceptance among states that hold significant influence over Gulf security, energy markets, investment flows and Islamic public opinion.

The proposal faces immediate resistance. Pakistan has rejected any move to recognise Israel under the current circumstances, with officials treating the Abraham Accords and Iran talks as separate issues. Saudi Arabia remains the central prize for Washington and Israel, but Riyadh has repeatedly linked normalisation to credible, irreversible progress towards a Palestinian state. That condition has become harder to satisfy as the Gaza war continues to shape Arab public sentiment and diplomatic calculations.

Qatar occupies a particularly sensitive position. Doha has maintained working channels with Washington, Tehran, Hamas and Israel, making it a valuable mediator but a difficult candidate for open normalisation while the Gaza conflict remains unresolved. Egypt and Jordan already have peace treaties with Israel, signed in 1979 and 1994 respectively, but their relations with Israel have been strained by the humanitarian toll in Gaza and by domestic pressure over Palestinian rights. Turkey also maintains formal ties with Israel, though political relations have sharply deteriorated during the war.

The Iran negotiations add another layer of uncertainty. Trump’s comments suggested optimism, but he offered no public detail on the substance of the talks. Diplomacy is understood to centre on security guarantees, sanctions relief, regional military posture, shipping routes and the future scope of Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran has signalled that any agreement must protect its sovereignty and economic interests, while Israel has insisted that any deal must eliminate what it regards as Iran’s nuclear and military threat.

The White House calculation is that a broader normalisation drive could give regional governments a stake in the success of an Iran settlement. Expanded diplomatic ties with Israel could unlock new investment, technology, defence and logistics arrangements across the Middle East, especially if paired with reduced risk in energy corridors such as the Strait of Hormuz. Supporters of the strategy argue that regional integration could limit the influence of armed non-state groups and encourage governments to prioritise trade over confrontation.

Critics view the proposal as overly ambitious and politically exposed. They argue that linking Iran talks to Arab and Muslim recognition of Israel could burden negotiations with issues that are already difficult on their own. The Palestinian question remains the clearest obstacle. Without visible progress in Gaza, the West Bank and final-status diplomacy, governments weighing normalisation risk being accused at home of rewarding Israel while Palestinians face displacement, military pressure and economic collapse.