U.S. President Donald Trump conditioned a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia on Thursday on Riyadh normalizing relations with Israel, an action the kingdom has so far refused to take, Reuters reported.
Trump said the deal would take effect only if Saudi Arabia joined the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords under which several Arab states established ties with Israel. The kingdom has long rejected joining the accords absent a pathway toward Palestinian statehood.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump had spoken with Gulf and Arab allies many times about pegging the deal to the Abraham Accords and that if the kingdom does not join them "the deal is off."
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia announced the agreement on Wednesday allowing Riyadh to enrich uranium and build nuclear reactors using U.S. technology without the snap U.N. inspections Washington has demanded of Iran.
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