US President Donald Trump said Monday that any agreement to end the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the US-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term aimed at normalising relations with Israel. Trump said in a social media post that negotiations are “proceeding nicely” but tied any eventual agreement to expanded participation in the 2020 accords. The proposal came as the emerging Iran deal faced criticism from fellow Republicans who favour a
harder line on Iran, and it could add new diplomatic complications to the negotiations. Trump pointed to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as countries that should “immediately” sign on, alongside Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020. He wrote that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the
Abraham Accords.” Read moreUS targets Iranian vessels, missile sites in new strikes Trump has long hoped Saudi Arabia would join, but the kingdom has maintained that any normalisation deal requires first establishing a clear path for Palestinian statehood. That’s also key for Pakistan, which is among the countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Islamabad-based analyst Syed Mohammad Ali said Pakistan’s position on Israel remains unchanged despite Trump’s latest proposal. The president said he brought up the Abraham Accords plan with leaders during
negotiations on Saturday. He said he would accept “one or two” countries declining to sign, but said most should be willing. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognize Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recognized Israel in 1949. Masood Khan, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, said it remains to be seen how workable the proposal might be for the countries on Trump’s list. “The invocation of the Abraham Accords at this stage gives an altogether new dimension to the diplomatic and mediatory
processes because this issue was not on the agenda,” he said, pointing to the domestic pressure Trump is facing to strike a favorable deal. Still, Khan said, “the diplomatic track is still working, and I believe Pakistan is very much at the center of it, supported by regional countries.” It remains unclear when or how any deal with Iran might be completed. Trump suggested even Iran could eventually sign on to the accords, if an agreement is reached. Read morePossible Iran-US deal: What we know
about the key issues on both sides The accords are a series of diplomatic, economic and security agreements created with US influence during Trump’s first term, originally between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, followed by Sudan, Morocco, and, more recently, Kazakhstan. They were framed as an effort to promote cooperation among countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and the administration saw them as partly paving a path toward full ties with Israel. (FRANCE 24 with AP)
Donald Trump, Iran deal, Abraham Accords, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Palestinian statehood, Masood Khan, Syed Mohammad Ali