US Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over Saudi-US Nuclear Deal; Trump Ties Approval to Israel Normalization

WASHINGTON: Several members of the US Congress and nuclear non-proliferation experts have expressed concern over a recent nuclear agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia, warning that allowing Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium could trigger a new arms race in the Middle East.
Two days earlier, the US Department of Energy had announced that Washington and Riyadh signed a series of agreements worth billions of dollars, spanning decades, covering peaceful civilian nuclear cooperation and safeguards. The agreement, however, still requires approval from the US Congress.
US media had claimed the deal would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium domestically, but President Trump denied this, stating there would be no uranium enrichment and that the US only supports a peaceful nuclear program based on unenriched fuel.
According to Arab media, uranium enrichment is not banned under the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but higher levels of enrichment can also be used to produce nuclear weapons. Al Jazeera reports that Saudi Arabia has long sought a civilian nuclear program to diversify its energy sources.
Separately, President Donald Trump has attached a new condition to the peaceful civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia. In a statement on his social media platform, he said the agreement would be approved, but entirely contingent on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords and establishing diplomatic relations with Israel — otherwise, he said, the deal would be considered void.
According to Al Jazeera, the Abraham Accords were first signed in 2020 by the UAE and Bahrain with Israel, later joined by Morocco and Sudan, while the US has for years pushed Saudi Arabia to join the accords as well.