President Donald Trump has approved a long-awaited nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that could eventually allow the kingdom to enrich uranium for its civilian nuclear energy program, according to two people familiar with the decision.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not yet been formally announced, said the administration is expected to unveil the deal publicly as early as Wednesday.

The proposed agreement would remain in effect for 30 years and would include significant participation by American companies in developing Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear program. It also envisions the possible construction of a uranium enrichment facility inside the kingdom following a joint U.S.-Saudi feasibility study.

The White House did not immediately comment on the reported decision, which was first disclosed by The Wall Street Journal.

Both President Trump and President Joe Biden previously pursued agreements that would enable the United States to share civilian nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia.

However, nuclear nonproliferation experts have expressed concern that allowing Saudi Arabia to operate uranium enrichment centrifuges could create a pathway toward a future nuclear weapons capability. Those concerns have been heightened by previous remarks from Saudi Arabia’s crown prince indicating the kingdom could seek nuclear weapons if Iran were to acquire an atomic bomb.

Regional tensions have further intensified those fears. Following Israel’s attack on Qatar targeting Hamas officials, Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan entered into a mutual defense pact. Pakistan’s defense minister later stated that his country’s nuclear arsenal “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if necessary, a remark widely interpreted as a warning directed at Israel, which is widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed nation.

While enriching uranium alone does not produce a nuclear weapon, it represents a significant step toward that capability. A country must also master additional technologies—including the use of synchronized high explosives—but enrichment is widely viewed as opening the door to weaponization. That concern has long been at the center of Western objections to Iran’s nuclear program.

The agreement would differ from the arrangement previously reached between the United States and the United Arab Emirates. Under its so-called “123 agreement,” the UAE built the Barakah nuclear power plant with South Korean assistance while agreeing not to enrich uranium domestically. Nonproliferation experts have long regarded that model as the “gold standard” for nations seeking civilian nuclear energy without increasing proliferation risks.

{Matzav.com}