Saudi Nuclear Deal Bars Enrichment, Mandates Full Inspections as Arms Race Warnings Grow
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jul 26
Saudi Nuclear Deal Bars Enrichment, Mandates Full Inspections as Arms Race Warnings Grow
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jul 26
Summary
Waltz said the new U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear deal allows no Saudi uranium enrichment and requires full inspections, framing it as strictly for civilian power plants.
Last week’s agreement, signed by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, opens the Saudi market to private U.S. nuclear exporters, though key terms remain undisclosed.
John Kennedy criticized the timing, saying the administration is bombing one country to stop a bomb while signing a nuclear deal with another, with the region already on a “hair trigger.”
Waltz argued the Saudi pact is fundamentally different from Iran’s program, which he said enriches to weapons-grade levels, buries facilities underground and shields them with missiles and drones.
The clarification comes as the Trump administration presses to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions while trying to prevent the Saudi deal from being seen as a trigger for a wider Middle East arms race.