Trump and the Prince’s Nuclear Agreement
BBC Persian reports that it has obtained the text of the nuclear agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia. An examination of this document shows that under certain conditions, Riyadh can gradually move towards uranium enrichment, a path that, according to this report, could eventually allow enrichment up to nearly 20 percent. This is significant because in past negotiations, Saudi Arabia had opposed the U.S. request to forgo domestic enrichment and reprocessing of spent fuel. Reuters had previously cited this disagreement as one of the main obstacles to the two countries reaching a nuclear agreement. According to BBC Persian’s report, the main text of the agreement also does not require Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords or recognize Israel, a matter that contrasts with Donald Trump’s public stance. The U.S. President had stated after announcing the agreement that Washington would not proceed with the nuclear deal without the normalization of relations between Riyadh and Israel. The U.S. Department of Energy had earlier officially announced the signing of a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, stating that this agreement, along with a bilateral safeguards agreement, establishes the legal framework for long-term nuclear cooperation between the two countries.