In a dramatic leaked phone call, Donald Trump reportedly stunned Arab leaders by insisting that normalising relations with Israel is a prerequisite for any US-brokered peace settlement with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The call, which took place on Saturday, involved key Middle Eastern figures from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt, according to sources cited by Axios.
Silence on the Line
The US president's demand left Arab leaders momentarily speechless, with no immediate response. Trump reportedly quipped, "Are they still there?" before continuing to reveal that his envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would pursue Israel normalisation discussions in the coming weeks.
Negotiations Hit a Standstill
Following the call, peace negotiations between the US and Iran stalled on Monday due to disagreements over Tehran's uranium stockpile and the unfreezing of Iranian assets, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Trump later posted a fresh threat on his Truth Social platform, depicting himself on the phone with a cartoon terrorist, warning that he 'will blow s*** up'.
In a separate statement, Trump asserted that negotiations with Iran "are proceeding nicely" but cautioned that if no deal is reached, US forces would return "back to the battlefront ... bigger and stronger than ever". He wrote: "It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all - Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before - And nobody wants that!"
Iran's Stance
Despite Trump's claims of progress, Iran's National Security Council declared there would be "no retreat" in the conflict with the US. Secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr stated that the nation's military had shown "fierce resistance and pinned the enemy to the ground", adding that "now more than ever, the country needs unity and cohesion so that the Americans and Zionists will also be disappointed in this regard."
Two senior Iranian officials, along with the governor of Iran's central bank, travelled to Doha to meet the Qatari Prime Minister to discuss a potential peace agreement and the release of frozen assets.
Abraham Accords
Trump emphasised that it "would be something special" for Iran to join the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements aimed at normalising diplomatic, economic, and security relations between Israel and several Arab nations. He insisted: "After all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords."
