US President Donald Trump on Thursday urged “all Middle Eastern countries” to normalize relations with Israel after what he called the obliteration of Tehran’s nuclear program.
It was unclear what prompted the comment, which came as Iranian state media said the Islamic Republic had executed a nuclear scientist accused of spying for the Mossad, amid a crackdown on alleged Israeli espionage following the two countries’ 12-day war in June.
“Now that the nuclear arsenal being ‘created’ by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords,” wrote Trump on his Truth Social platform, referring to the normalization agreements between Israel and four Muslim-majority nations that he brokered in his first term as president.
“This will insure PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST,” he added.
Trump’s administration is actively discussing with Iran’s neighbor Azerbaijan the possibility of bringing it and some Central Asian allies into the Abraham Accords, hoping to deepen those nations’ existing ties with Israel, according to five sources with knowledge of the matter.
While nations in the region condemned Israel’s June 13 opening strike on Iran’s nuclear program, some were thought to be quietly applauding the bombing campaign, during which US fighter jets also attacked three key Iranian nuclear sites. The war put an abrupt halt to US-Iran nuclear talks that Trump announced in April.
Trump has said the US strikes completely destroyed Iran’s nuclear sites, but Western and Israeli intelligence has indicated that the damage was only partial and that Iran was able to safeguard its stockpile of nearly weapons-grade uranium.
Roozbeh Vadi, who Iranian state media said was executed on Wednesday for giving the Mossad information on Tehran’s nuclear program, was himself a nuclear scientist, state broadcaster IRIB said on Thursday.
The judiciary’s news outlet Mizan had said on Wednesday that Vadi was convicted of spying for Israel and passing on information about a nuclear scientist killed in Israel’s June airstrikes on the Islamic Republic.
“Key facilities were Fordo and Natanz (uranium enrichment plants), for which I sent information. I told them I knew this and that about Fordo, they (Mossad agent) told me to send everything,” Vadi said in what IRIB described as a confession video it ran on the air.
“The entry and exit of nuclear material into the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) and Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) were very important to them,” added Vadi, who held a PhD in nuclear engineering from Amir Kabir University of Technology in Tehran.
A voiceover in the video said that Vadi met five times with Mossad agents while in Vienna and was asked to open a cryptocurrency account to receive payment for his services. The defendant said in the video that the Mossad had promised him a foreign passport should he complete a long-term collaboration.
IRIB on Thursday shared a screenshot of an academic paper presented at an Iranian nuclear conference in 2012 that was written by Vadi as well as Ahmad Zolfaqar and Abdolhamid Minouchehr — two nuclear scientists killed in June by Israel.
In the document, Vadi is introduced as a nuclear researcher at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the country’s top nuclear body.
Executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel have significantly increased this year, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months.
Israel killed numerous Iranian nuclear scientists and military leaders during the June war, which ended with a ceasefire brokered by Trump.
Though Iran publicly denies seeking nuclear arms, it has enriched uranium to a level far beyond what is needed for civilian use and a short step away from weapons-grade.
Israel said the war on Iran came in response to Iranian steps toward imminent nuclear weaponization, and was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed goal of destroying the Jewish state.
Iran responded to Israel’s attacks with deadly ballistic missile strikes that caused heavy damage in Israeli cities.