US Signs Landmark Nuclear Deal with Saudi Arabia

By Staff, Agencies

The US has signed a landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that could allow the kingdom to enrich uranium in the future.

In a statement on Wednesday, the US Department of Energy said its secretary, Chris Wright, and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, signed a “peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement”, along with a “bilateral safeguards agreement”.

The full details of the deal have yet to be released, but the timing of the announcement is controversial, as the US’s war with Iran is being fought in part to prevent Tehran enriching uranium domestically and make it near-impossible for Iran to build a nuclear weapon.

A civil nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia has been in the works for years during both Donald Trump’s first administration and that of former president Joe ⁠Biden. No deal has come together before now, in part because of warnings from nonproliferation groups who say that it could offer Saudi Arabia a path to develop a nuclear weapon.

The deal will be submitted to Congress for review, where it could face opposition among lawmakers who fear a lack of monitoring safeguards to restrict Saudi Arabia’s uranium enrichment.

Saudi Arabia has in the past said it would need a nuclear weapon if Iran acquired one, an intention Iran has repeatedly denied. But in lengthy talks stretching over more than one administration, the US also feared that Riyadh would look elsewhere for nuclear technology if the US did not provide what it wanted. Saudi Arabia has long said if it does not partner with the US, it could partner with China or Russia which have different proliferation standards.

In a report to Congress earlier this year, the US administration urged support for the US-Saudi nuclear deal, in part to “prevent strategic competition from seizing an opportunity to undermine United States national security interests for decades to come”.

The report also argued that the US must seize the opportunity to expand nuclear cooperation to “re-establish our leadership in the global civilian nuclear energy market and reap the benefits of expanded influence in foreign countries hosting our reactors”.

According to the US energy department, the Saudi partnership agreed on Wednesday is expected to expand American nuclear technology exports, create “high-paying” US jobs, and “strengthen America’s energy and national security posture”.