US President Donald Trump has formally approved a historic deal allowing Saudi Arabia to develop a civilian nuclear program. If the deal goes into effect, Saudi Arabia could have a path to acquiring uranium enrichment capacity on its own initiative in the future.
International media The Wall Street Journal has confirmed this information in a report based on US administration officials.
The 30-year deal is expected to open the way for uranium enrichment in Saudi Arabia in the future. The main goal of this multi-billion-dollar initiative is to put US technology companies in the lead role in building Saudi Arabia’s nuclear infrastructure, crowding out other foreign competitors.
Trump administration officials claim direct US control over the program would prevent misuse of Saudi nuclear technology. But the issue has created a debate in Washington as some US lawmakers have expressed deep concern about the spread of nuclear technology in the Middle East.
Another important aspect of the deal is that the United States will have a direct role in monitoring Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program. Trump administration officials claim this will make it easier to ensure the program is not used to build nuclear weapons.
However, the deal is expected to be subject to controversy when it is sent to the US Congress for review in the next few days. Many US lawmakers have already expressed concern over the expansion of Saudi Arabia’s nuclear capabilities amid the current volatile security situation in the Middle East. They say it is completely different from the 2009 US nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates. In that agreement, the Emirates pledged not to enrich uranium and reprocess plutonium, and accepted full additional monitoring by the IAEA.
Source: Middle East Eye
Times BD/ Humaira
