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Iran shot down a drone over the Persian Gulf on May 25, as United States President Donald Trump made a push towards normalization with Israel as a part of any agreement with the Islamic Republic.
Following reports of air defense activity near Qeshm Island, Iranian media said that a “hostile drone” was downed over the waters of the Gulf.
The semi-official Fars News Agency reported that the Islamic Republic used a new air defense system called “Arash the archer” to shoot down the drone. The agency said the drone was shot down using a system with “stealth capabilities,” calling it “a signal from us so that no stealth drone can penetrate the skies of the Persian Gulf again.”
The U.S. Central Command has not commented on these Iranian reports. The command rarely acknowledged its aerial losses since the start of the war on the Islamic Republic.
Around the same time, Trump made a surprise statement, linking the emerging Iran deal with the Abraham Accords normalization agreements with Israel. He said that joining the accords should be “mandatory” for six Muslim nations, telling Saudi Arabia and Qatar to sign up first.
“Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, reiterating that if no deal is reached it will mean “Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”
During discussions with leaders of eight Muslim-majority and Middle Eastern countries a day earlier, Trump said that he stated that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”
He specified those countries as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan, and also lists the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain while noting they are already members.
Egypt and Jordan signed peace deals with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively, while Turkey and Israel have diplomatic relations, although ties are currently strained.
Trump did not mention Israel whatsoever in the lengthy post. Still, he said that the expansion of the accords “should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit. If they don’t, they should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention.
“It may be possible that one or two have a reason for not doing so, and that will be accepted, but most should be ready, willing, and able to make this Settlement with Iran a far more Historic Event than it would, otherwise, be,” he added.
He went on to say that “numerous” of the leaders he spoke with “would be honored, as soon as our Document is signed, to have the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of the Abraham Accords.”
“The Abraham Accords have proven to be, for the Countries involved (The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Kazakhstan), a Financial, Economic, and Social BOOM, even during this time of Conflict and War, with the current Members never even suggesting leaving, or taking so much as even a pause,” he continued.
“Nothing in the past, or in the future, will surpass” such a framework, Trump said, declaring, “Therefore, I am mandatorily requesting that all Countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its Agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition.”
“The Middle East would be United, Powerful, and Economically Strong, like perhaps no other area, anywhere in the World! By copy of this TRUTH, I am asking my Representatives to begin, and successfully complete, the process of signing these Countries into the already Historic Abraham Accords. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he concluded.
Trump’s attempt to leverage any deal with Iran to drag more Islamic countries into normalization with Israel will not likely bear fruit.
As evident by the latest drone incident over the Persian Gulf, tensions are still high. According to very much all recent reports, the deal in the work is more of a memorandum of understanding that does not address key issues stuck between the U.S. and Iran, not even the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
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