AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Donald Trump's attempt to impose the expansion of normalization agreements with the Zionist regime, known as the "Abraham Accords," and to link them to ongoing negotiations with Iran, has met with a wall of opposition from countries—an event that exposed the weaknesses of a project Washington had promoted for years as a prelude to redesigning the Middle East and consolidating Israel's integration into the region at any cost and under any title.
The Hill newspaper (close to Congress) reported that after years of celebrating the Abraham Accords as a historic achievement by the United States and Israel, the initiative now faces increasing challenges. The continuation of Israel's war in the Gaza Strip and the rising public anger of Arab peoples against the policies of the Zionist regime have made talk of a new wave of normalization seem far from reality.
During calls made with leaders of a number of Arab and Islamic countries, Trump tried to advance the joining of new countries to these accords as part of the broader arrangements related to U.S.-Iran negotiations. However, this initiative received little response and was met with silence or outright rejection.
Pakistan had the most explicit position; Defense Minister Khawaja Asif emphasized that joining the Abraham Accords contradicts the fundamental principles of his country's policy and denied any official approach to normalization with Israel.
Observers say Trump's attempt to use negotiations with Iran to impose a regional normalization agenda reflects the extent of pressure he is under from the Israeli cabinet and its allies within the United States—those seeking political and strategic gains beyond Iran's nuclear file.
According to The Hill, although Israel's supporters portray the expansion of the Abraham Accords as a tool to create a united front against Iran, the regional reality shows that many Arab countries, given the ongoing war in Gaza and the absence of any real progress toward the establishment of a Palestinian state, do not prioritize normalization.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia's stance remains the main obstacle to this plan; Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman continues to emphasize that any normalization with Israel requires a credible path toward an independent Palestinian state—a condition that successive cabinets in the occupied territories have rejected.
Experts believe the Abraham Accords have not succeeded in achieving the major objectives envisioned for them. Aside from establishing formal relations between Israel and some Arab countries, these accords have not led to the resolution of existing conflicts or the end of regional tensions, nor have they resolved the essence of the Palestinian issue.
Israel's war against the Gaza Strip, ongoing since October 2023, dealt a severe blow to the normalization process, as it brought the Palestinian issue back to the forefront of public and political attention in the region and forced several governments to halt or slow any moves to expand relations with Israel.
In a sign of retreat and lowered expectations, Trump was later forced to moderate his demands and accept that perhaps some countries would not join these accords, even though he had previously presented their expansion as part of his vision for redrawing regional balances.
According to American sources, the initial agreement being negotiated with Iran focuses on extending the ceasefire and opening the door for negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, without its provisions containing any reference to the expansion of the Abraham Accords or imposing normalization on regional countries.
According to observers, this underscores that the normalization project, which Washington and Tel Aviv tried to present as an inevitable path for reshaping the Middle East, now faces a difficult test in light of Israel's continued war against Palestine and the opposition of a number of Arab and Islamic countries to tying their regional interests to the path of normalization with Israel.
**************
End/ 345E
