FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 22, 2026
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the Trump administration will reportedly sign a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that will allow the kingdom to enrich uranium. Rosemary Kelanic, Director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, issued the following statement in response:
“President Trump’s approval of a nuclear agreement that could help Saudi Arabia enrich uranium is a terrible idea; it goes against decades of U.S. policy to give enrichment technology to a country that doesn’t already possess it—because civilian enrichment can form the basis of a nuclear weapons program.
“Aside from the proliferation risks, uranium enrichment would give Saudi Arabia a potent source of leverage to extract future concessions from Washington, 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.
“The U.S. might also feel compelled to intervene to save the Saudi monarchy if a social revolution threatened to bring an anti-American government to power.
“Giving Riyadh uranium enrichment could functionally enmesh the United States with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia forever.”
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