Trump administration pursuing nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, opening path to enrichment: Report

The Trump administration told Congress it is pursuing a civil nuclear pact with Saudi Arabia that does not include non-proliferation safeguards it has traditionally imposed on country’s to prevent them from developing nuclear weapons, Reuters reported on Friday.

The language in the document also leaves room for Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium, as it stipulates “additional safeguards and verification measures to the most sensitive areas of potential nuclear cooperation" between the two countries, including enrichment and reprocessing, the report said. 

A nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that does not explicitly prohibit the kingdom’s potential to enrich uranium in the future would be much more transformative for the region than a separate deal for F-35 warplanes the Trump administration is pursuing. 

In nuclear agreements with foreign governments, for example, the UAE, the US made cooperation conditional on commitments that they will not enrich uranium or reprocess spent nuclear fuel.

The UAE, Morocco and dozens of European and Asian countries have signed the so-called "123 Agreements" with the US.

US law generally requires a 123 Agreement to be in force before licensing significant exports of US-origin nuclear material or equipment to a foreign country.

In addition to a 123 Agreement, US lawmakers have insisted that the US require Saudi Arabia to submit to what is called the "Additional Protocol", which allows the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) additional access to nuclear facilities, data, and undeclared sites.

The UAE, the only other Gulf state to have officially partnered with the US in nuclear energy, signed the Additional Protocol to its IAEA agreement in 2009.

'We will do a yellowcake'

Reuters reported that the Trump administration sent a preliminary report to some heads of congressional committees in November, which it is required to send if it is not pursuing the Additional Protocol.

The Trump administration informed Congress it will sign a 123 Agreement with Saudi Arabia, which puts US industry at the forefront of the kingdom’s civil nuclear development, but does not rule out cooperation on enrichment. 

Reuters cited the Arms Control Association (ACA), saying that the Trump administration could submit its finalised 123 Agreement with the kingdom to Congress by 22 February, 90 days from the date of congressional notification.

The House of Representatives and Senate would need to pass resolutions opposing the agreement within the next 90 days to prevent it from going into effect in its current form.

The Reuters report underscores how Trump is putting deal-making at the centre of his diplomacy, even if it means chafing at the traditional concerns of the US foreign policy establishment.

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Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his advisors have pushed for a deal that will allow them to enrich uranium, which they say the kingdom holds vast reserves of.

“We will enrich it and we will sell it and we will do a ‘yellowcake'," Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said last year, referring to a step in the process that comes after mining but before enrichment.

The language cited by Reuters could be a concession by the Trump administration to get the nuclear deal over the finish line. The US wants to prioritise its exports to Saudi Arabia.

“Not enriching would be a major concession by the Saudis. It’s an economic issue because the Saudis know they can make more money off their uranium by enriching themselves instead of exporting it. But it is also a matter of national pride. The question is, if they don’t enrich, what is their pay-off from Trump?” a Saudi-based analyst previously told Middle East Eye.

The nuclear deal is just one of many that the US is pursuing with the kingdom. 

MEE reported previously that the Trump administration has been briefing lawmakers and their staff on how the sale relates to Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge.

Sources briefed on the sale tell MEE that, despite Trump’s public assurance that Riyadh would be allowed to buy warplanes on par with Israel’s, the deal now working its way through Washington is for F-35s of a lower variety.

In the meantime, Saudi Arabia is pursuing a deal with Turkey on Kaan fighter Jets, which offers it the possibility of localising production. The UK is also pushing for Saudi Arabia to invest in its next-generation fighter jet programme alongside Italy and Japan, Bloomberg reported this week.