TOI correspondent from Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday dramatically raised the stakes in already fragile peace efforts in the Middle East by demanding that key Muslim allies – including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar – sign the Abraham Accords as a condition of participating in a historic regional accord with Iran.The sudden and sweeping proposal, revealed in a lengthy Truth Social post following a weekend conference call with Arab and Muslim leaders, stunned diplomats in the Middle East and South Asia and immediately triggered resistance from Pakistan and unease in Riyadh and Doha.Referring to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, Trump declared, “It should be mandatory that all of these countries, at least together, sign the Abraham Accords.” Countries that refuse to do so, he warned, “should not be part of this agreement.”The Abraham Accords, signed during Trump’s first term in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, later joined by Morocco and Sudan. The agreements were hailed in Washington as a strategic breakthrough that reshaped Middle Eastern diplomacy by prioritizing economic cooperation and security ties over the long-standing Palestinian issue. However, critics argued that they merely institutionalized an anti-Iran regional faction while sidelining Palestinian aspirations for statehood.Demand threatens already fragile US-Iran talksUS President Donald Trump’s new demand that Muslim allies join the Abraham Accords threatens to complicate already delicate US-Iran talks by inserting perhaps the most politically flammable issue in the Islamic world – normalization with Israel – into talks focused on regional security and nuclear tensions. According to Trump’s conference call with Muslim leaders on Saturday, he surprised them by suddenly insisting that normalization with Israel must be tied to any comprehensive Iran deal. According to one account, “There was silence on the line and Trump joked and asked if they were still there.” Saudi Arabia has repeatedly insisted that formal recognition of Israel could only occur if there was an “irreversible path” toward an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital – a condition the Netanyahu government has flatly rejected.Pakistan’s opposition is even more clear. Islamabad has never recognized Israel and has historically linked any normalization to the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state. Former Pakistani senator and veteran foreign policy commentator Mushahid Hussain Syed dismissed Trump’s proposal as “completely rejected by the people of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and most of the Muslim world.”In a post onYet analysts said Trump’s own post seemed to tacitly acknowledge the political impossibility of forcing some countries into normalization immediately. “It may be possible that one or two may have a reason for not doing so, and that will be accepted,” he wrote – language seen as a nod towards Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.Trump nevertheless proceeded with characteristic maximalism, calling the agreement “the most important deal that any of these great, but always-struggling countries will sign.” He went even further, raising the extraordinary possibility of Iran eventually joining the Abraham Accords if Tehran reaches a deal with Washington.“Wow, now that’s going to be something special!” He has written.The idea of Iran – whose revolutionary ideology has centered on opposition to Israel and US influence since 1979 – to join a US-brokered normalization framework was greeted with a mixture of surprise and disbelief in diplomatic circles.Nevertheless, the proposal received enthusiastic support from Trump allies, especially Republican supporters who see Arab-Israeli normalization as a cornerstone of a new regional order. Senator Lindsey Graham called it one of the “most consequential” diplomatic initiatives in Middle Eastern history.“Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan joining the Abraham Accords will be transformative for the region and the world,” Graham said. “This is a great move by President Trump.” He warned Gulf countries against opposing the initiative, saying refusal would have “severe implications for our future relations.”But many analysts believe Trump may have an upper hand by combining separate diplomatic tracks – Iran nuclear diplomacy, Gulf security architecture, Arab-Israeli normalization and Palestinian statehood – into a single grand deal. Time is especially sensitive. Anger across the Muslim world over the Gaza war has hardened public opinion against normalization with Israel. Even governments quietly interested in closer ties with Israel now face intense domestic political obstacles.For Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, normalization without clear concessions to Palestine risks being accused of abandoning the Arab consensus. Pakistan faces similar pressure from Islamic parties and public sentiments. Yet Trump appears convinced that a comprehensive diplomatic realignment is possible — one that could simultaneously contain Iran, formalize Israeli ties with the Muslim world and cement his image as the ultimate dealmaker, a consummation that would almost certainly put him on track for the Nobel Peace Prize he openly craves.