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Under Trump, Saudi Civil Nuclear Talks Delinked From Israel Recognition, Sources Say
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The United States is no longer demanding Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters ahead of US President Donald Trump‘s visit next week.
Dropping the demand that Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic relations with Israel would be a major concession by Washington. Under former President Joe Biden, nuclear talks were an element of a wider US-Saudi deal tied to normalization and to Riyadh’s goal of a defense treaty with Washington.
The kingdom has repeatedly said it would not recognize Israel without a Palestinian state, frustrating Biden administration attempts to expand the Abraham Accords signed during Trump‘s first term. Under those accords the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco normalized relations with Israel. Progress toward Saudi recognition of Israel has been halted by fury in Arab countries over the war raging in Gaza. The nuclear talks had also stumbled over Washington’s non-proliferation concerns.
In a possible sign of a new approach, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that Saudi Arabia and the United States were on a “pathway” to a civil nuclear agreement when he visited the kingdom in April.
“When we have something to announce, you will hear it from the president. Any reports on this are speculative,” US National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt told Reuters in response to a request for comment.
Saudi Arabia’s government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Even without the normalization requirement for civil nuclear talks to progress, and despite unpacking the issue from a wider defense treaty, a deal is not yet in close reach, one of the sources said.
One sticking point is Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act that allows cooperation with other countries developing civil nuclear capabilities but specifies nonproliferation criteria including limiting uranium enrichment.
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has said that the kingdom would seek to enrich uranium and sell the product.
One of the sources said the kingdom was still not willing to sign a so-called 123 agreement, which would prevent enrichment or reprocessing of plutonium made in reactors – two routes that have the potential to culminate in nuclear weapons.
Secretary Wright previously told Reuters a 123 agreement would be a prerequisite to any deal.
However, there are several ways to structure a deal to achieve both countries’ objectives, Wright has said.
One solution being discussed is a “black box” arrangement where only US personnel would have access to a uranium enrichment facility on Saudi soil, the same source said.
SELL MORE OIL
Riyadh wants to build nuclear generation capacity as it seeks to diversify its economy away from oil. Nuclear power could also help free up more crude barrels for export.
Arms control advocates have previously expressed concern about a Saudi nuclear program because de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the kingdom would seek to quickly develop nuclear weapons should its regional rival Iran do so.
The US and Iran are currently holding talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, which Washington and Western allies say is geared towards producing weapons. Iran insists it is purely for civil purposes.
US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday described the talks with Iran as “so far, so good” and said there was a deal to be made that would reintegrate Iran into the global economy while preventing it from getting a nuclear weapon.
Saudi Arabia and the United States are set to discuss a number of blockbuster economic deals during Trump‘s visit next week, with the US poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, sources have told Reuters.
Trump has said Riyadh should “round up” a planned investment package in the US to $1 trillion from an initial $600 billion.
The trip is Trump‘s second visit abroad, after a short trip to Rome for the pope’s funeral, since he returned to office in January. In his first term a lavish trip to Saudi Arabia marked his first overseas stop.
Trump fostered close ties with Gulf states including Saudi Arabia during his first term.
The country invested $2 billion in a firm formed by Jared Kushner, Trump‘s son-in-law and former aide, after Trump left office, and there are plans to build two Trump towers in Jeddah and Riyadh.
The post Under Trump, Saudi Civil Nuclear Talks Delinked From Israel Recognition, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.