Overview
- President Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday urging Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and others to "simultaneously" join the Abraham Accords and saying holdouts should be excluded from any Iran settlement.
- Pakistan became the first named country to publicly refuse the request when Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said joining would clash with Pakistan’s core ideology and noted Pakistani passports do not even list Israel.
- Officials and multiple reports say other leaders on Mr. Trump’s call have so far stayed publicly silent and a US official told reporters Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan were caught off guard by the demand.
- Diplomats and analysts say packaging Accords expansion with the Iran de-escalation talks risks complicating technical issues such as sanctions relief and verification of Iran’s nuclear steps and may reduce buy-in from wary governments.
- The Abraham Accords began as a US-driven normalization framework in 2020 and have domestic political limits in many Muslim-majority states, so forcing a quick expansion could strain regional ties and jeopardize a fragile ceasefire process.