The United States and Saudi Arabia have reached a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that could allow the kingdom to enrich uranium on its soil. The signing comes as Washington simultaneously conducts military operations against Iran to prevent Tehran from doing the same.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, signed on Wednesday a “peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement,” accompanied by a “bilateral safeguards agreement.” The announcement was made by the U.S. Department of Energy, which praised the text as historic under the Trump administration.
The content of the agreement raises questions, notably regarding uranium enrichment. Riyadh has for several years demanded the right to enrich its own uranium, a capability Washington had until now refused to grant its partners under the so-called “123 agreements,” named after the section of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act that governs them.
The geopolitical paradox is striking: at the very moment the United States is militarily striking Iran to force Tehran to abandon its enrichment program, it is opening the door to that same capability for Saudi Arabia, a regional rival of the Islamic Republic.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declared in 2018 that if Iran acquired the atomic bomb, Saudi Arabia would do the same “as soon as possible.” This statement then alarmed non-proliferation experts, who fear that a Saudi enrichment program could further weaken the nuclear security architecture in the Middle East.
