Kazakhstan is to join the Abraham Accords, US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.
Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he held a phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
"Kazakhstan is the first country of my second term to join the Abraham Accords, the first of many. This is a major step forward in building bridges across the world," Mr Trump said.
He added that "there are many more countries trying to join this club of strength".
During a dinner for Central Asian leaders following multilateral meetings, Mr Tokayev hailed Mr Trump as the "president of peace", calling him a "great leader and statesman".
Kazakhstan will be the fifth country to join the agreement, after the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. The original agreement established relations between the Arab countries and Israel.
The latest move is mostly symbolic because Kazakhstan has had diplomatic relations with Israel for many years. Mr Trump said more countries would sign on to the accords, particularly those previously reluctant to join due to Iran.
"When Iran was the bully of the Middle East ... which it isn't any more, they had a hard time going against it," Mr Trump said. "People really want to come in, and so we are in very active discussions."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained the accords are about more than establishing embassies in each other's capitals. "You're now creating a partnership that brings special and unique economic development on all sorts of issues that they can work on together," he said.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said earlier in the day that a new country would be signing on to the accords. A senior White House official later confirmed to The National that Kazakhstan would join.
Axios quoted a US official as saying Mr Tokayev had contacted the White House to express an interest in bringing his country into the accords. He wanted Kazakhstan to benefit from further regional co-operation and integration, and to send a signal of religious tolerance and the importance of dialogue, the official added.
The announcement came during the Central Asian Summit in Washington, as the US looks to gain influence in a region long dominated by Russia. The talks took place amid intensifying competition for Central Asia's vast mineral resources.
Washington is pursuing new partnerships in energy and overland trade routes, in addition to critical minerals, as western nations seek to diversify supply chains away from Russia and China.
"Sadly, previous American presidents neglected this region completely," Mr Trump said at the dinner after the meetings. "But we are fixing that mistake and I'm committed to making America's partnership with each of these countries stronger than ever before."
During the summit, representatives of the governments of Kazakhstan and the US signed an agreement related to critical minerals. The National has contacted the Kazakh embassy for comment.
Mr Trump has made no secret of his desire for more countries to join the Abraham Accords, which were signed during his first term in office. In June, he said he expected more countries to sign.
"We have some really great countries in there right now, and I think we're going to start loading them up," he told Fox News.
Mr Trump said on Wednesday that “hopefully we’re going to get Saudi Arabia very soon”. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is to visit Washington this month.
