U.S. President Donald Trump added a new condition to the US-Saudi civilian nuclear cooperation agreement on Thursday, saying its activation will depend entirely on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords and normalizing relations with Israel. The agreement, signed by Washington and Riyadh to develop a peaceful civilian nuclear program, still requires congressional approval and full details have not been publicly released.

The announcement by the U.S. energy department said the deals included a multi-billion dollar peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement and a bilateral security protection pact to enable Saudi Arabia's civilian nuclear program. Trump also denied that the agreement would allow uranium enrichment in Saudi Arabia, while nonproliferation groups and some U.S. lawmakers expressed concern that enrichment could spark a regional arms competition.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it is aware of the U.S.-Saudi plans but has not yet received a formal safeguards request; it would carry out necessary checks and inspections if an application arrives.