US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday that he expected normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia to happen this year, as long as Iran is put "in a box".
Mr Graham said in a message to both Saudi Arabia and Israel that they had "no better friend" than US President Donald Trump, and that now was the time to reopen negotiations on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords.
"I think this is going to happen 2026 and it can't happen until Iran is in a box," he said on CBS's Face the Nation. "If we get a deal, Iran will be in a box. If we don't get a deal, Iran will be in a box."
The senator added that there had been plans to announce a framework agreement for Saudi Arabia to join the accords at the end of October 2023, but this was upended by the events of the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
"That created a real problem. The Arab world is very upset about Gaza, and everybody in Israel is very upset about October 7, but we're going to pick up where we left off," Mr Graham said.
Saudi Arabia has said that it will not normalise ties with Israel without a pathway towards an independent Palestinian state. Mr Trump said in recent weeks that it "should be mandatory" that "all countries" sign on to the Abraham Accords after a deal is reached with Iran.
Mr Graham spoke after rare criticism of Israel by Mr Trump in recent days. While the US President has warned Iran to stop its proxy group Hezbollah from "causing trouble", he has also accused Israel of killing too many people in Lebanon.
In a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Graham reminded him that Mr Trump had stood by him "when other people wouldn't".
"I'm not asking you to do anything to jeopardise the future of Israel's security, but I am asking you to be open to expanding the Abraham Accords and finding a solution to Palestinians that are good for Israel, and quite frankly, good for the world," he said.
Mr Graham said last week on X that the "ultimate win" in the war with Iran would be to "open up a pathway to peace" through the expansion of the Abraham Accords.
"If the conflict with Iran yields this outcome, it will be one of the most successful military operations in American history," he said.
His comments come as US and Iranian negotiators meet in Switzerland to firm up a peace deal aimed at ending the war. The conflict began in late February when the US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran.
Initially, Mr Graham issued strong criticism against the deal with Iran, saying the proposed $300 billion reconstruction fund for the country would "be akin to a Marshall Plan for Germany with the Nazis still in charge".
He has since softened his tone, however, saying he expected countries in the Arab world to fund the project.
