The Iran deal was reportedly 95% complete over the weekend, with negotiators working through what had been described as a carefully assembled framework.
By Monday, that progress had to be reconsidered after Donald Trump introduced a new condition that was not part of the original agreement and had not been accepted by several of the countries involved, shifting the structure of talks that had been moving forward in stages.
On Memorial Day, Trump published a lengthy post on Truth Social setting out what he now described as a mandatory requirement for any deal. He said it should be “mandatory” that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan join the Abraham Accords as part of the settlement, writing: “I stated 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,” and adding: “If they don’t, they should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention.”
That condition immediately runs into positions in the region that have remained fixed for years. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stated that normalization with Israel depends on an irreversible pathway toward Palestinian statehood, while Israel’s current government has rejected Palestinian statehood outright.
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Those positions remain incompatible, and the new demand places Saudi participation in the Iran framework inside a dispute that has not been resolved on either side.
The demand followed a Saturday conference call with Arab and Muslim leaders, where U.S. officials familiar with the discussion said the Abraham Accords requirement was not expected. According to those officials, leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan were caught completely off guard.
“There was silence on the line and Trump joked and asked if they are still there,” one official said. After the call, the same requirement was later set out publicly on Monday.
Trump also floated the most ambitious element of the post almost as an afterthought. “In speaking to numerous of the Great Leaders mentioned above, they would be honored, as soon as our Document is signed, to have the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of the Abraham Accords. Wow, now that would be something special!” he wrote.
Taken together, the structure described in the post brings multiple separate issues into a single framework, requiring Iran to accept nuclear concessions while linking several regional states to normalization agreements with Israel, alongside conditions tied to long-standing disputes between Saudi Arabia and Israel over Palestinian statehood.
Trump described the negotiations as “proceeding nicely” and added: “It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!”
Trump just threw a massive wrench into the Iran negotiations. In a lengthy new post, Trump said it should be “mandatory” that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and others sign onto the Abraham Accords as part of any deal involving Iran.
That comes after Trump… pic.twitter.com/x0zrAc32Nz
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) May 25, 2026
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
