A senior US official said Washington and Riyadh have advanced in their negotiations towards a larger plan that would ultimately see the normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Only a “handful of issues” have remained unresolved between Washington and Riyadh regarding the normalization plan, the official told the Associated Press.

The informed source, who has not been identified, is a senior member of the US State Department who accompanied Antony Blinken in his Wednesday visit to Saudi Arabia. In his sixth tour to the Middle East since Hamas’ deadly onslaught on October 7, Blinken met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and discussed the recognition of the Jewish state by Riyadh.

Blinken left Saudi Arabia for Egypt on Thursday and is scheduled to visit Israel on Friday.

The deal between Saudi Arabia and the US in this regard “is widely believed to include US defense guarantees and aid in building a civilian nuclear program in Saudi Arabia,” the Associated Press further reported.

Saudi Arabia has time and again stressed normalizing relations with Israel depends upon Tel Aviv’s recognition of a pathway towards the creation of an independent Palestinian state, a demand which has strongly been rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Iranian government has been a staunch critic of the normalization talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel as it would further isolate Tehran in the region. In October 2023, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said: “The position of the Islamic Republic is that countries that make the gamble of normalization with Israel will lose. They are betting on a losing horse.”