America warned Saudi Arabia that any attempt to create independent uranium enrichment capacity would violate the nuclear cooperation agreement between the two countries and could lead to the collapse of nuclear cooperation between Washington and Riyadh.
Matthew Napoli's Warning
Matthew Napoli, Deputy Director of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Division at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, made this warning in his speech at the Carnegie Foundation. Napoli emphasized: "Adherence to strict nonproliferation standards is a fundamental condition for the continuation of nuclear cooperation between Washington and Saudi Arabia, and if Saudi Arabia attempts to create independent enrichment capacity, it will violate the 123 agreement with the U.S. and jeopardize our cooperation; there is no room for debate on this matter."
Read more: Emmanuel Macron and Political Challenges in France
123 Agreement and U.S. Oversight
This U.S. official added that the aforementioned agreement provides special oversight rights for Washington over Saudi Arabia's nuclear program. According to him, any violation of the comprehensive safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency or deviation from U.S. oversight mechanisms will lead to the immediate cessation of all forms of nuclear cooperation between the two countries.
Donald Trump, the President of the United States, signed the nuclear cooperation agreement with the Saudi government in late July; an agreement that facilitates the participation of American companies in the development of Saudi Arabia's nuclear energy infrastructure for a period of 30 years.
This agreement does not require congressional approval to take effect, but it will not be enforceable until the expiration of a 90-day review period for lawmakers. This period allows members of Congress to review the terms of the agreement and take action to prevent its implementation.
Trump stated when announcing this agreement that advancing nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia depends on this country joining the "Abraham Accords" and normalizing relations with the Israeli regime; however, the condition for normalizing relations is not included in the text of the nuclear agreement signed between Chris Wright, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, and Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi Minister of Energy.
Meanwhile, Jeff Merkley and Ed Markey, two Democratic senators, previously proposed a plan to prevent the implementation of the nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia. Their main concern is that the agreement does not provide sufficient guarantees to prevent the potential use of American technology in the development of nuclear weapons.
The Wall Street Journal had also previously reported that this agreement could allow for an increase in uranium enrichment levels in Saudi Arabia up to 20 percent after further reviews.
Read more: Zelensky and Rubio Discuss Defense and Starlink · U.S. State Department Warns About Security Situation in West Asia
