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Deal signed, then flipped
On Wednesday afternoon, officials at the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in downtown Washington gathered for the signing of a civil nuclear agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia, with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Ray and a large screen showing Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman from Riyadh.
The agreement quickly collapsed after President Donald Trump wrote on social media that it was subject to a new condition: Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, and CNN reported that Trump denied the agreement allowed uranium enrichment.
CNN said a knowledgeable source described Trump as already angry about the disclosure of the deal, which Ray had not told him his plan to announce, and that Trump’s discontent intensified after criticism from experts and conservative media including Fox News and The Wall Street Journal.
The Council on Foreign Relations said the deal’s fate is unclear after Trump conditioned approval of the agreement on Saudi Arabia signing the Abraham Accords, and it noted that the reported terms would permit Saudi Arabia to build nuclear power plants on its soil using U.S. technology.
The Council on Foreign Relations also said the fate is unclear because an official text of the agreement has not been released yet, even as it described leaked portions as allowing U.S. help develop Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program over thirty years.
White House and critics
CNN reported that White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement that the civil nuclear deal “is conditioned on the kingdom’s joining the Abraham Accords,” while Energy Department spokesman Ben Dittrich said in a statement that “These are false news.”
CNN also said White House anger grew as questions about the deal dominated the Thursday press conference, and White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt noted that Trump was the “last dealmaker” when asked why the new condition was not included in the Wednesday announcement.
The Hill reported that Trump pushed back on a CNN report by saying “nobody got out ahead” of him, and he said from the Oval Office that “they have to be a member of the Abraham Accords.”
ABC News reported that U.S. officials said the deal presents the possibility that uranium enrichment could eventually happen on Saudi Arabian soil while omitting a requirement for expanded oversight, and it quoted Richard Nephew saying, “It’s just notable to me that we’re making contingent Saudi enrichment ... on recognition of a relationship with Israel.”
ABC News also said Trump wrote that the deal with Saudi Arabia “will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” while sources told ABC News that those claims were not elements of the signed agreement.
What’s at stake next
The Council on Foreign Relations said the reported deal would include safeguards against enrichment and nuclear fuel reprocessing, but it also emphasized that the current deal has no requirement for the Additional Protocol that previous negotiations required.
“Trump's hunt for leverage over Saudi Arabia fuels nuclear proliferation concerns Riyadh's nuclear capabilities may hinge on diplomacy with Israel, officials say”
DW reported that the agreement does not include the “gold standard” that bars Saudi from enriching uranium and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, and it also said it does not include the Additional Protocol that would impose broader international oversight.
Al Jazeera said the deal must first be submitted to the U.S. Congress for review, but Trump’s new condition of Saudi-Israeli normalisation has complicated the path forward and left it unclear when, or whether, the deal will be put before Congress.
Al Jazeera also said Steven Cook wrote that Trump’s demand has left the deal “in a state of diplomatic suspension,” and it described Saudi Arabia’s long insistence that it will not recognize Israel until there is a clear path for Palestinian statehood.
Jefferson City News Tribune reported that Trump said the agreement “will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” and it warned that the timing of finalization was surprising given the U.S. is engaged in an active military conflict with Iran designed to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program.
