Trump Demands Arab States Normalize With Israel in Exchange for Iran Ceasefire Deal

US President Donald Trump has linked a potential ceasefire agreement with Iran to a sweeping demand that Arab and Muslim nations establish formal diplomatic relations with Israel, according to American officials cited by Axios — a move that has introduced a significant new complication into already delicate negotiations.

Trump reportedly made the demand during a phone call on Saturday with leaders from eight countries: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain. According to officials familiar with the conversation, all eight leaders expressed general support for the potential agreement with Tehran. One official was quoted as telling Trump directly that they were with him on the deal. However, when Trump pushed the normalization demand, the call was met with a notable silence, prompting the president to joke and ask whether the leaders were still on the line.

Trump also urged those countries that have not yet signed the Abraham Accords — the series of US-brokered normalization agreements with Israel concluded in 2020 during his first term — to do so and establish official ties with Tel Aviv. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan currently maintain no formal diplomatic relations with Israel, making the demand particularly sensitive for those governments.

Trump indicated he would follow up by speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and expressed a desire to eventually bring Netanyahu into a joint call with the same group of Arab and Muslim leaders.

The development comes as indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington, mediated by Pakistan and facilitated by Qatar, continue on the basis of Iran’s 14-point proposal aimed at producing a memorandum to end the US-Israeli war on Iran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a televised interview on Saturday that the two sides have moved closer to finalizing the memorandum, with Iran’s priorities at this stage remaining firmly focused on ending the war, halting American maritime aggression, and securing the release of its frozen assets.

The conflict began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, killing senior Iranian officials and commanders. Iran responded with sustained daily missile and drone operations targeting Israeli-occupied territories and US military assets across the region, and closed the Strait of Hormuz — a move that triggered a sharp rise in global oil prices. A Pakistan-brokered temporary ceasefire took effect on April 8, forty days into the war, followed by negotiations in Islamabad that stalled due to what Tehran described as Washington’s maximalist demands and unreasonable positions.