Overview
- Reporting shows a tentative civil nuclear deal would permit Saudi domestic uranium enrichment and possibly plutonium reprocessing under a U.S.–Saudi bilateral safeguards arrangement rather than the IAEA’s Additional Protocol.
- The draft accord remains unsigned by President Trump and has not been submitted to Congress for the statutory review that would follow a signed 123 cooperation agreement.
- Sources say the administration has delayed signing in part because of the ongoing war with Iran and concern that Congress could pass a bipartisan resolution disapproving the deal.
- Nuclear experts are split: some say excluding the Additional Protocol would limit IAEA access to undeclared sites and raise proliferation risk, while others argue adequacy depends on the unpublished details of the bilateral safeguards.
- If finalized, the deal would break with the 2009 U.S.-UAE model that banned enrichment and reprocessing, and it could prompt other suppliers such as Russia or China to offer rival terms or encourage similar bespoke arrangements worldwide.