Normalisation not discussed during months of Saudi-US nuclear negotiations, sources say

Normalisation not discussed during months of Saudi-US nuclear negotiations, sources say Submitted by Sean Mathews on Thu, 07/23/2026 - 20:17 A deal that Saudi Arabia welcomed as a testament to the kingdom's autonomy is now conditional, again, on Israel US President Donald Trump, left, greets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the White House's South Lawn in Washington, DC, on 18 November 2025 (Saul Loeb/AFP) Off Since November 2025, the US and Saudi Arabia have been hashing out a civilian nuclear agreement, but in dozens of exchanges between officials, Riyadh’s diplomatic recognition of Israel never once came up, one current and one former US official familiar with the talks told Middle East Eye. “Normalisation was never listed as a condition,” one of the sources told MEE. “Not once.