Trump Approves Saudi Uranium Enrichment Deal
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- Donald Trump has approved a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that could provide the kingdom with uranium enrichment capability for its civilian nuclear program, and is expected to ask Congress to approve it.
- The 30-year deal would involve US firms such as Westinghouse and could lead to the construction of a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia following a joint US-Saudi feasibility study.
- The agreement is likely to omit enhanced IAEA monitoring under the additional protocol — the same stringent safeguards applied to Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal.
- Rosemary Kelanic, head of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities, called the decision "reckless," warning that Saudi enrichment would put "immense pressure on Iran to get the bomb."
- The Biden administration had previously conditioned Saudi Arabia's access to enrichment technology on normalizing relations with Israel — a condition Riyadh has refused to meet.
- The UAE reached a comparable 123 agreement for its Barakah nuclear power plant without seeking enrichment rights, a model non-proliferation experts call the "gold standard."
- Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact under which Pakistan pledged its nuclear program would be "made available" to Saudi Arabia if needed.
Why it matters: The deal's timing creates a direct contradiction: the US is fighting a war to block Iran's domestic enrichment while granting the same capability to Saudi Arabia without the tougher IAEA inspections applied to Tehran. Congress must review the 30-year 123 agreement, and lawmakers may move to block it over inadequate safeguards — especially given Saudi Arabia's prior statements that it would pursue nuclear weapons if Iran acquired them.
