Saudi Arabia Comes Closer to Nuclear Ambitions as Bin Salman, Trump Reach Win-Win Deal

U.S. President Donald Trump has presented Saudi Arabia with a nuclear cooperation agreement that potentially permits uranium enrichment.

Even as the U.S. wages war under the pretext that it cannot tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran, it has effectively paved the way for regional rival Saudi Arabia to potentially acquire nuclear capabilities.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 22nd (local time) that this nuclear agreement is an attempt to lock Saudi Arabia into the U.S.-led order amid escalating wars in the Middle East.

Because constructing a nuclear reactor takes over a decade and requires the continued use of U.S. nuclear technology, security and commercial ties between the two nations are bound to be further reinforced, the report noted.

As the war with Iran escalated, U.S. allies in the Middle East have expressed dissatisfaction with the Trump administration's actions.

This is because they became targets of Iranian retaliatory attacks, and Middle Eastern oil-producing nations also suffered economic blows as their export routes were blocked by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has maintained close ties with President Trump, also previously clashed with the U.S., including restricting American military aircraft from using Saudi airspace.

Approving the nuclear agreement at such a time could be a measure to appease Saudi Arabia and strengthen bilateral relations.

Dina Esfandiary, an Iran expert at Bloomberg Economics, commented on the agreement, calling it a "carrot" delivered at a time when Saudi Arabia harbors extreme dissatisfaction with President Trump.

She explained that "the U.S. has made a concession," adding that "the U.S. has virtually rarely made concessions to Saudi Arabia recently, or at least that is how Saudi Arabia feels."

The nuclear agreement with the United States is also considered an achievement for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has invested efforts into securing a nuclear pact to diversify his country's oil-dependent economy.

In particular, he has kept a wary eye on Iran, publicly declaring that if Iran secures nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia will acquire them as well.

With observations being raised that Iran has reached the threshold of nuclear capability, Saudi Arabia has effectively secured nuclear potential with U.S. approval.

Karen Young, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, analyzed that "this agreement is an opportunity for Saudi Arabia to elevate its regional status and project political influence."

She explained that for Saudi Arabia, it is "an opportunity to boast that it has achieved the ability to match or surpass Iran's capabilities with U.S. approval," while for the Trump administration, it is a measure to "draw Saudi Arabia further onto the side of the U.S." amid the war with Iran.

However, there are also substantial concerns that this agreement could trigger an arms race in the Middle East.

Driven by a non-proliferation stance, the U.S. has previously permitted uranium enrichment only as an exception, conditional on intensive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

A nuclear agreement signed with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2009 also included provisions accepting strict IAEA nuclear inspections and forfeiting the right to produce domestic nuclear fuel.

This is the so-called "gold standard" of nuclear non-proliferation.

However, based on what has been revealed so far, the agreement with Saudi Arabia appears to be an "unprecedented" approval that omits this gold standard.

Esfandiary pointed out that at a time when the Trump administration is vowing to prevent Iran from possessing nuclear weapons, this effectively "reverses the U.S. non-proliferation stance maintained for decades."

Young also expressed concern that it could trigger a competition to secure nuclear technology across the Middle East.

Bader Al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University, predicted that given the already shaken regional power balance, this agreement will inevitably "trigger anger from Israel and Iran" and amplify uncertainty.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.