President Donald Trump on Wednesday, 17 June said the newly announced agreement with Iran could serve as the cornerstone of a sweeping diplomatic realignment across the Middle East, including a significant expansion of the Abraham Accords and coordinated efforts to wind down long-running regional conflicts. Trump made the remarks following the G7 summit in Évian, France.

The Iran Deal as a Regional Launchpad

Trump framed the Iran agreement as extending well beyond nuclear non-proliferation. Speaking at a post-summit news conference, he said the accord was designed to create conditions for broader regional stability — not merely to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

'As I expressed to the world leaders here this week, it's my hope that the peace agreement will be the beginning of a much larger deal all across the Middle East,' Trump told reporters.

A senior US official, speaking on background, said future talks with Iran could move beyond the nuclear file to encompass wider security concerns. 'After nuclear is gonna be regional stability and funding of proxies,' the official said.

Abraham Accords Expansion in Focus

Trump identified the expansion of the Abraham Accords — the normalisation framework brokered during his first term that brought Israel into formal diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and others — as a primary next objective.

'So the expansion of the Abraham Accords is the other thing that we hope we're going to get,' he said. Trump suggested the Iran deal could remove a significant psychological barrier that had previously deterred regional countries from joining the framework. 'Everybody was afraid of Iran,' he said.

He specifically praised the UAE for its early commitment, noting, 'UAE went in right from the beginning.'

Regional Leaders Signal Support

Trump said he held extensive consultations with key regional figures on the sidelines of the G7, including Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

'I spoke to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia a number of times,' Trump said. 'They're all so happy about this deal.'

The President argued that the accord directly addresses the foremost security concern of both Israel and several Arab states. 'Think of what Israel is getting, they're not going to be nuked,' he said. 'Very simple.'

Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Gaza in the Frame

Trump also pointed to potential diplomatic openings in Lebanon, flagging the role of Hezbollah as a subject for future engagement. Senior US officials indicated that reducing Iran's funding of regional proxies would be a core agenda item in subsequent negotiations.

Trump additionally referenced relative quiet from Hamas as a signal of shifting regional conditions. 'Look at Hamas, Hamas has been very silent,' he said. Notably, the administration stopped short of detailing a specific mechanism or timeline for these broader diplomatic steps.

What Comes Next

While Trump acknowledged that significant challenges remain, the administration's posture suggests a sequenced strategy: consolidate the Iran nuclear agreement first, then leverage it to draw additional Arab states into the Abraham Accords framework and address proxy conflicts. Senior officials indicated that economic cooperation — rather than security competition — is the long-term goal the White House hopes to incentivise through the deal. How durable that momentum proves will depend heavily on implementation details that have yet to be made public.