The US-Saudi nuclear deal: Don’t settle, renegotiate - opinion

Henry Sokolski, founder of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, argues in a Jerusalem Post opinion piece that the proposed US-Saudi nuclear deal, which would allow uranium enrichment in Saudi Arabia, risks triggering wider nuclear proliferation. He contends that Iran, the UAE, Egypt, and Turkey could demand similar rights, undermining nonproliferation standards. Sokolski notes Saudi Arabia's refusal to adopt IAEA inspections and cites the 2009 US-UAE agreement as a precedent for renegotiating to prohibit fuel-making. He urges Washington to hold the line against any enrichment in non-nuclear states.

In an opinion piece for The Jerusalem Post, Henry Sokolski, founder of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, argues that the proposed US-Saudi nuclear deal, which would permit uranium enrichment in Saudi Arabia, is a prescription for widespread nuclear proliferation. He contends that once Washington greenlights fuel-making for Riyadh, Iran will insist on a similar right, citing its 'inalienable' right to enrich and the conditional right conceded in the June understanding. The UAE, which forswore enrichment in its 2009 agreement, could renegotiate under a proviso if a neighbor gets more generous terms. Egypt and Turkey, both with nuclear projects, have refused to forswear fuel-making. Sokolski criticizes Energy Secretary Chris Wright's claim that the deal reinforces nonproliferation, noting Saudi Arabia's refusal of IAEA inspections and the risk of seizure or covert use of any enrichment plant. He recalls that the US last offered fuel-making assistance 60 years ago to India, which led to a 'peaceful nuclear explosive' in 1974. He urges Washington to renegotiate the deal to prohibit fuel-making, as it did with the UAE in 2009.