President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly set to announce a sweeping nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. The deal could allow it to enrich its own uranium, a concession that has immediately alarmed many regarding Iran as well.
Donald Trump’s new Saudi Arabia nuclear deal raises eyebrows
Officials claim that the deal will be formally signed on Wednesday, unlocking billions of dollars for the U.S. nuclear industry. But by retreating from decades of American nonproliferation policy, the agreement is raising questions like: will it stabilise the Middle East or fuel a regional arms race?
The agreement, known as a 123 Agreement, establishes a legally binding framework for civilian nuclear cooperation. Crucially, it does not require Saudi Arabia to forswear enriching uranium or reprocessing plutonium on its soil. Instead, the kingdom can eventually produce its own nuclear fuel following a joint economic study with Washington.
This is a big break from the “gold standard” set by a 2009 deal with the United Arab Emirates. That pact mandated stringent international inspections and explicitly barred domestic fuel production. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, secured terms his Emirati neighbours never got.
The timing is inextricably linked to the Iran war. After withdrawing from the Obama-era nuclear accord in 2018, Donald Trump ordered U.S. forces to join Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear sites in June 2025. A wider conflict erupted this February. Saudi Arabia, reliant on American interceptor missiles to shoot down Iranian projectiles, has watched the regional firestorm with growing unease.
Prince Mohammed has vowed to build nuclear weapons “without a doubt” if Iran crosses the threshold first. Tehran, meanwhile, has enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels since Trump abandoned the diplomatic constraints.
All in all, the pact sidesteps an earlier framework that linked nuclear cooperation to Saudi recognition of Israel. That prospect collapsed after the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. Trump decoupled the two issues entirely.
(Source: The New York Times)
