Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, called the reported deal a “terrible idea” that “goes against decades of U.S. policy to give enrichment technology to a country that doesn’t already possess it.”
Kelanic also warned that the agreement would empower the Saudi government in ways that could come back to bite the U.S..
“Aside from the proliferation risks, uranium enrichment would give Saudi Arabia a potent source of leverage to extract future concessions from Washington,” Kelanic explained, “including new security guarantees, by threatening to weaponize its program unless the United States promises enhanced military protection. That has happened before, for instance in South Korea and West Germany, where the U.S. traded protection to persuade partners to abandon nuclear programs.”
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