A 30-year deal giving US firms a central role in Saudi nuclear development is a significant long-term commercial opening for American nuclear engineering and enrichment technology companies, though the tens-of-billions valuation implies the bulk of that revenue plays out over decades rather than immediately. The enrichment component is the more market-sensitive element: any move toward Saudi centrifuge capability, especially set against the existing Saudi-Pakistan defense pact and Pakistan’s offer to extend its nuclear umbrella, raises the prospect of a wider regional proliferation dynamic that could keep a geopolitical risk premium embedded in Gulf-linked assets well beyond the current Iran conflict. The timing, alongside continued US strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, reinforces the sense that nuclear capability itself, not just conventional military escalation, is becoming a central axis of the regional standoff.
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The US just cleared the door for Saudi Arabia to spin centrifuges, even as it bombs Iran to stop the same thing.
Summary:
- Trump has approved a 30-year US-Saudi nuclear deal that could give the kingdom uranium enrichment capability, according to the AP, citing two people familiar with the matter.
- The deal is expected to be announced publicly as early as Wednesday and would involve American companies developing Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program.
- The agreement could allow for a uranium enrichment facility to be built in Saudi Arabia following a joint US-Saudi study, per the AP.
- Both Trump and former President Biden had previously sought a nuclear technology-sharing deal with Saudi Arabia, the AP noted.
- Nonproliferation experts warned the deal could open the door to a Saudi weapons program, a concern heightened by the crown prince’s past comments on matching Iran’s capability.
- Saudi Arabia has already signed a mutual defense pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan, whose defense minister said its nuclear program would be made available to the kingdom if needed.
President Donald Trump has approved an agreement with Saudi Arabia that could potentially provide the kingdom with uranium enrichment capability for its civilian nuclear program, according to the Associated Press, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The AP reported that the people, who were not authorized to comment publicly on the decision before it is formally announced, said the agreement is expected to be made public as early as Wednesday. The deal is expected to last 30 years and would involve American companies in developing Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program, with the arrangement potentially allowing for the construction of a uranium enrichment facility on Saudi soil following a joint US Saudi study, the AP said. The agreement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which described it as a landmark deal worth tens of billions of dollars that would give American companies a central role in developing the kingdom’s nuclear ambitions.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision, according to the AP. Both Trump and former President Joe Biden had previously sought to reach a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that would share American technology with the kingdom, the AP noted, underscoring how long the two countries have been working toward an arrangement of this kind.
Nonproliferation experts cited by the AP warned that any spinning centrifuges within Saudi Arabia could open the door to a possible weapons program, a concern sharpened by the kingdom’s assertive crown prince, who has previously suggested Saudi Arabia could pursue nuclear weapons capability if Iran were to obtain an atomic bomb. The AP noted that Saudi Arabia and nuclear armed Pakistan have already signed a mutual defense pact, struck after Israel launched an attack on Qatar targeting Hamas officials. Pakistan’s defense minister said afterward that his country’s nuclear program would be made available to Saudi Arabia if needed, a statement widely interpreted as a warning aimed at Israel, long believed to be the only nuclear armed state in the Middle East.
The approval comes as the United States continues strikes aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, with Trump threatening further action against Iran’s heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain site in the near term. Taken together, the timing places a major new step in Saudi nuclear development directly alongside an active US military campaign against Iran’s own nuclear program, adding another dimension to the wider contest over nuclear capability unfolding across the region.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.