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14-04-2025
RIYADH: The United States and Saudi Arabia will sign a preliminary agreement to cooperate over the kingdom’s ambitions to develop a civil nuclear industry, US. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday.
Wright, who had met with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman earlier on Sunday, said Riyadh and Washington were on a “a pathway” to reaching an agreement to work together to develop a Saudi civil nuclear program.
Wright, on his first visit to the kingdom as secretary as part of tour of energy-producing Gulf states, said further details over a memorandum detailing the energy cooperation between Riyadh and Washington would come later this year.
“For a US partnership and involvement in nuclear here, there will definitely be a 123 agreement … there’s lots of ways to structure a deal that will accomplish both the Saudi objectives and the American objectives,” he said.
A so-called 123 agreement with Riyadh refers to Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and is required to permit the US government and American companies to work with entities in the kingdom to develop a civil nuclear industry.
Saudi authorities have not agreed to the requirements under the act, Wright said. It specifies nine non-proliferation criteria a state must meet to keep it from using the technology to develop nuclear arms or transfer sensitive materials to others.
Progress on the discussions had previously been difficult because Saudi Arabia did not want to sign a deal that would rule out the possibility of enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel, both potential paths to a bomb.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has long said that if Iran developed a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would follow suit, a stance that has fueled deep concern among arms control advocates and some US lawmakers over a possible US-Saudi civil nuclear deal.
Wright did not mention a wider arrangement with the kingdom, which the previous administration of US president Joe Biden had been seeking and included a civil nuclear agreement and security guarantees in the hopes it would lead to normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is seeking to generate substantial renewable energy and reduce emissions, under the crown prince’s Vision 2030 reform plan. At least some of this is expected to come from nuclear energy.
Earlier Saudi Arabia will develop nuclear weapons if its arch-rival Iran does so, the kingdom’s crown prince said in remarks released on Thursday, raising the prospect of a nuclear arms race in a region already riven with conflict.
“Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible,” Prince Mohammed bin Salman told media in an interview that will air in full on Sunday.
The Sunni Muslim kingdom has been at loggerheads with revolutionary Shi’ite Iran for decades. The countries have fought a long-running proxy war in the Middle East and beyond, backing rival sides in armed conflicts and political crises including in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
He downplayed Iran’s power during the interview, saying that Iran was far from being a rival to Saudi Arabia.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi reacted harshly, saying the Saudi crown prince was a “delusional naive person” who has no idea of politics, Iranian state TV reported on Thursday.
“He has no idea of politics apart from bitter talk that emanates from a lack of foresight … His remarks do not deserve a response, because he is a delusional, naive person, who never talks, but with lies and bitterness,” Qasemi said. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
