The Trump administration has relaunched talks with Saudi officials for an agreement that would give Saudi Arabia access to American nuclear technology and potentially enrich the uranium, said Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday.
The agreement – which the Biden administration had concluded within the framework of a broader agreement for Saudi Arabia to establish links with Israel – would allow the Kingdom to develop a “commercial nuclear industry,” Wright told journalists in Riyadh. He added that he expected to see “significant developments” this year.
“We have not reached the details of an agreement, but it certainly seems that there is a way to do so,” he said. “The problem is controlling sensitive technology. Are there solutions to that that involve an enrichment here in Saudi Arabia? Yes.”
When asked if talks were linked to Saudi Arabia accepting to “normalize” diplomatic relations with Israel, Wright only said that “relations are still packages” and that there were many potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.
For years, Saudi Arabia pressed the United States To help him develop a nuclear energy program, because Saudi officials look beyond oil to provide energy and diversify the economy. But the talks on a nuclear partnership have stalled, in part because the Saudi government has refused to accept the conditions intended to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons or helping other nations to do so.
A crucial snack point, for example, was whether the kingdom would import uranium or enrich it at the national level, which could theoretically allow it to produce uranium for use in nuclear weapons.
The agreement has grown under the Biden administration when Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto sovereign, proposed Establish diplomatic relations with Israel In exchange for cooperation on the construction of nuclear reactors and other concessions in the United States, including security guarantees. These talks failed after the War of Israel-Hamas in Gaza upset the Middle East, Deepening of support For Palestinians and enmity towards Israel in the region, including In Saudi Arabia.
Over the years, frustrated Saudi officials have also explored the obtaining of nuclear technology from other countries, including China and Russia.
“It is essential that he becomes the United States as a partner,” Wright said on Sunday. “The fact that may have been in doubt is probably indicative of unproductive relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia in recent years.”
The agreement faces several obstacles. The United States oblige countries to comply with high non-proliferation standards before cooperating on a nuclear program, in particular in certain cases prohibiting the enrichment of uranium and fuel reprocessing on their territory. The pact must be examined by the congress, which can block it.
In the past, the members of the Congress Both sides of the aisle to have expressed opposition to an agreement, including Marco Rubio, who is now Secretary of State.
Detractors of the agreement Say it’s too risky; Prince Mohammed said on several occasions that Saudi Arabia will develop nuclear weapons If Iran – its regional rival – the fact.
At the same time, he negotiates with Riyadh, the Trump administration has Restarted nuclear talks with Iran In an effort to contain the growing nuclear program of Tehran, after the United States withdrew from a multilateral agreement of 2015 in the first Trump presidency.
Prince Mohammed also put pressure on an agreement that would allow a domestic enrichment of uranium. He believes that the kingdom has vast uranium resources, although so far, exploration has produced “seriously non -economic” deposits, according to a report by the Intergovernmental Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Supporters of the agreement argue that if the United States does not get involved, Saudi Arabia will obtain the nuclear technology from a country that requires fewer guarantees.
Trump administration officials visiting Riyadh had discussions with Saudi officials on energy, mining, critical minerals and climate change, Wright said. A broader agreement on the increase in cooperation between the two countries to develop energy resources will be signed “on a later date,” he said.
US officials have not discussed oil prices or production levels with their Saudi counterparts, Wright said.
President Trump said he wanted energy to be cheaper and that he would be “Ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to reduce the cost of oil. “Oil prices have dropped around $ 10 a barrel since it imposed prices, then reduced many of them to American trade partners around the world.
But the kingdom needs higher price to finance Prince Mohammed’s spending plans, including a Promised $ 600 billion Increase in trade and investment in the United States – an amount equivalent to two thirds of the entire Saudi sovereign heritage fund.
Mr. Wright, who was a fracturing framework appointment As an energy secretary, has played any divergence in oil policy between the two countries.
“I see a great agreement here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that the way of making the world a better place is to produce more energy, no less,” he said.