Trump calls on Saudis to join Abraham Accords as Mideast ‘transformed’ by Iran war

US President Donald Trump expresses his desire for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords against the backdrop of the war in Iran.

“The Middle East will be transformed (as a result of the war) and the future of that region — I don’t think it’s ever been brighter,” Trump says in remarks to a conference in Miami.

Trump calls out Yasir Al-Rumayyan — one of the organizers of the conference and also a Saudi national — and says, “I hope you’re going to be getting into the Abraham Accords finally.”

“Will you please go back and explain? It’s time now,” Trump says.

He then recalls purported conversations he had with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman where the US president unsuccessfully tried to convince Riyadh to join the Abraham Accords.

“Mohammed would say, ‘Oh yes (we will join). As soon as we do this. As soon as we do that,’” Trump recalls.

“I said, ‘Mohammed, we did that.’ He’d say, ‘Oh yes, but we have a couple of other things.’”

“It’s now time. We’ve now taken them out, and they are out bigly. We’ve got to get into the Abraham Accords,” Trump continues, expressing his hope that other countries will follow.

The president has long been convinced that Iran’s perceived regional dominance has been the only factor keeping countries from joining the Abraham Accords, ostensibly downplaying potential members repeated insistence that they will not join the alliance absent a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.