President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a civil nuclear deal between the US and Saudi Arabia is conditional on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, adding that there would be no enrichment of the material.
The US and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement on civil nuclear power, letting the kingdom enrich uranium and build nuclear reactors using US technology, without requiring the snap UN inspections that Washington has previously demanded from Iran.
“The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!)… pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, referring to normalising ties with Israel.
“The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities,” Trump said.
Saudi Arabia’s longstanding position has been that it would not sign the Abraham Accords unless there is an agreement on a roadmap to Palestinian statehood.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s post. Saudi Arabia’s longstanding position has been that it would not sign the Abraham Accords unless there was an agreement on a roadmap to Palestinian statehood.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first term in 2020, breaking a longstanding taboo to become the first Arab states to recognise Israel in a quarter century. Morocco and Sudan followed suit.
The Trump administration on Wednesday said the civil nuclear deal abides by nonproliferation agreements in the US Atomic Energy Act, which are among the world’s strongest.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, said the agreement supports efforts to diversify energy sources, and includes the “highest international standards” of nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation.
The deal would let Saudi Arabia enrich uranium and reprocess nuclear waste.
