PNN – A well-informed source told Al-sharq that US President Donald Trump’s remarks—conditioning the implementation of a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia on Riyadh normalizing relations with Israel—were made without prior coordination with Riyadh.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network; an informed source stated that Saudi Arabia had no prior knowledge of Donald Trump’s decision to link the nuclear agreement issue with the normalization of relations with Israel.
On Thursday, Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that approval of the nuclear agreement signed between the U.S. and Saudi energy ministries is fully contingent on Saudi Arabia joining the highly successful Abraham Accords.
The U.S. President also emphasized that the proposed plan would not involve any enrichment of nuclear materials and that Washington has no objection to the establishment of civil nuclear facilities that do not include enrichment capabilities.
These remarks came just hours after the United States and Saudi Arabia signed a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement—known as the “123 Agreement”—along with a related bilateral safeguards agreement.
Axios: No indication the agreement links implementation to normalization
Meanwhile, following the release of Trump’s message, the U.S. outlet Axios reported that there is no indication the text of the nuclear agreement ties its implementation to the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
This report comes as remarks by Trump have raised fresh questions regarding the true scope of the nuclear agreement between Washington and Riyadh, as well as its potential political conditions.
Saudi Arabia has previously emphasized—on numerous occasions and in official statements—that it does not intend to normalize relations with Israel without a clear political path toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.
This stance indicates that any attempt to link strategic agreements between Washington and Riyadh to the issue of Saudi-Israeli relations will be met with great sensitivity at both regional and diplomatic levels.
The so-called “123 Agreement” establishes the legal framework for civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and other nations. Such agreements typically include provisions regarding the scope of cooperation, oversight, peaceful use, and restrictions related to enrichment.
Consequently, any political commentary on the implementation of this agreement can influence perceptions regarding the future of nuclear, security, and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries.