US President Donald Trump on Thursday put the ball in Saudi Arabia's court while saying the civil nuclear agreement with the kingdom will be approved. He said the agreement for the nuclear programme requires Saudi Arabia to normalise ties with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump clarfied that the civil nuclear agreement between the United States Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia does not allow uranium enrichment, adding that it "pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and UAE (and others) already have."
However, he said the deal is "totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords."
The Saudi deal involving US companies in programme development is expected to last for 30 years.
The US-brokered Abraham Accords have been signed by several Arab nations, including the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco. The Abraham Accords are named after the biblical patriarch, Abraham, who is revered in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
However, in the past, Saudi Arabia said it will formally recognise Israel on the condition that Palestine gets statehood. On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had dismissed the idea of Palestinian statehood.
After Trump's statement, Netanyahu took to X on Thursday, saying Saudi Arabia's joining of the Abraham Accords "would be an historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East."
This comes as Iran-backed Houthis attacked commericial vessels, including two Saudi Arabian ships, in the Red Sea. In response, Trump said he is "very disappointed" by their action and threatened "major military punishment" against the rebels.
"If they do this again, the US will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis themselves," he wrote.
The US president said the Houthis had previously been acting "very responsibly" after facing US strikes in 2025. "Unfortunately, now they are starting up again, shooting at two Saudi Arabian ships last night," he added.
