President Donald Trump has signed a landmark 30-year nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that could enable the kingdom to enrich its own uranium for civilian nuclear power — a move that critics call deeply reckless amid the ongoing US war with Iran over its nuclear program.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed "a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement" and accompanying bilateral safeguards agreement, according to a Department of Energy statement.
The 30-year deal involves US firms such as Westinghouse in developing the program and could allow for the construction of a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia after a joint US-Saudi study.
Controversial Timing The timing has drawn sharp criticism. Rosemary Kelanic, head of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities, warned: "Giving Saudi Arabia uranium enrichment technology is a terrible idea on many counts. But it's especially idiotic to do it in the middle of a war over Iran's nuclear program."
She described the decision as reckless and not in the US national interest, suggesting it could pressure Iran to weaponize.
Congressional Review The agreement is expected to be submitted to Congress for review under the Atomic Energy Act's "123 agreement" provisions, where it could face opposition from lawmakers who fear insufficient monitoring safeguards.
Unlike the UAE's 2009 agreement — which forwent enrichment domestically, setting what non-proliferation experts called the "gold standard" — the Saudi deal likely does not include enhanced IAEA monitoring under the so-called additional protocol.
Regional Implications Saudi Arabia has previously stated it would need a nuclear weapon if Iran acquired one. The kingdom and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact earlier this year after Israel attacked Qatar targeting Hamas officials, and Pakistan's defense minister stated its nuclear program "will be made available" to Saudi Arabia if needed.
The deal ends years of negotiation, during which the Biden administration had conditioned Saudi enrichment access on normalizing relations with Israel — a step Saudi Arabia continues to refuse.
