Lindsey Graham urged Saudi Arabia and other Arab and Muslim countries to join the Abraham Accords as part of negotiations to end the Israeli-US war on Iran, saying the move would reshape the Middle East if it happened. In a post on X, Graham said the proposal should be part of any deal and pressed President Donald Trump to hold firm.
“If in fact as a result of these negotiations to end the Iranian conflict, our Arab and Muslim allies in the region agreed to join the Abraham Accords, it would make this agreement one of the most consequential in the history of the Middle East,” Graham wrote, calling the idea “beyond transformative for the region and world.” He described it as “a brilliant move by President Trump.”
Graham specifically named Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan as possible additions. The Abraham Accords are a normalization framework involving relations with Israel, and Graham framed the effort as part of a wider push to end the conflict with Iran. His message placed the diplomatic opening at the center of any settlement rather than treating it as a separate follow-on issue.
He also used unusually stark language toward governments that might decline the offer. “To Saudi Arabia and others: Now is the time to be bold for the future of a new Middle East,” Graham wrote. He added that if they refused “to go down this path as suggested by President Trump, it will have severe repercussions for our future relationships and make this peace proposal unacceptable.”
That warning is the tension inside Graham’s pitch: he is urging a breakthrough, but he is also attaching a penalty to hesitation. He said a refusal “would be seen by history as a major miscalculation,” underscoring how he wants Trump to use the Iran talks to force a broader regional realignment. Graham’s message was aimed at Trump as much as at Riyadh and the other capitals he named.
“President Trump: Stick to your guns in getting a good deal with Iran,” Graham wrote. “Equally important, stick to your guns in insisting Saudi Arabia and others join the Abraham Accords as part of these negotiations.” The next question is whether any administration effort to end the Iranian conflict can actually tie together security diplomacy and Arab-Israeli normalization without losing either side of the bargain.
