Lawmakers Concerned by White House Moves to Allow Saudi Nuclear Enrichment

Democratic lawmakers are expressing concerns about the administration’s apparent moves toward a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that would allow the kingdom to enrich uranium, lacking the safeguards that were included in a similar nuclear cooperation deal with the United Arab Emirates.

There had previously been bipartisan support in Congress for including such safeguards, including intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency inspections, under an “additional protocol” of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and the “gold standard” commitment of renouncing nuclear enrichment and reprocessing included in the UAE deal. Even Energy Secretary Chris Wright last year denied that the U.S. would allow Saudi enrichment.

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Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said that Saudi Arabia cannot be trusted with a nuclear deal, adding that it is “bad politics” for the U.S. to “demand that Iran end enrichment while possibly partnering up with its rival’s enrichment program.”

“It also sends the wrong message to partners like the UAE that signed up for the gold standard deal with the United States, which rightly prohibits such activities,” Ruhe added. He warned that such a deal could “set off a regional proliferation cascade,” from actors such as Iran, Turkey and Egypt.

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Read the full article in Jewish Insider.