United States President Donald Trump has sent a proposed civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress, while insisting that the deal will only take effect if Riyadh agrees to normalise relations with Israel.
The agreement, reached in July, would allow US companies to export civilian nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia and pave the way for the construction of US-designed nuclear reactors in the kingdom.
A US administration official told Reuters that the agreement was submitted to Congress on Monday.
Congressional sources said it is expected to be referred to relevant committees on Wednesday.
Under the proposed arrangement, Congress has 90 session days to review the agreement. If lawmakers do not object within that period, the deal would take effect.
However, Trump has maintained that Saudi Arabia must join the Abraham Accords and establish diplomatic relations with Israel before the nuclear agreement can proceed.
“The president’s position has not changed that the agreement will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords,” the US official said.
The Abraham Accords were brokered by the United States during Trump’s first term and led to Israel establishing or normalising relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Saudi Arabia has so far resisted recognising Israel, insisting that there must be an irreversible path towards the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The position has become more pronounced since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October 2023, disrupting earlier diplomatic efforts that had raised expectations of a possible Saudi-Israeli normalisation deal.
Former US President Joe Biden had also sought to negotiate a civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia while linking it to the kingdom’s recognition of Israel.
The proposed US-Saudi nuclear deal would run for 30 years and include the construction of AP1000 nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia.
The project could be worth tens of billions of dollars and would benefit Westinghouse, which is jointly owned by Canada’s Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management.
The agreement has already attracted criticism from some Democratic lawmakers and nuclear non-proliferation advocates.
One major concern is that the proposed pact does not explicitly prevent Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium or reprocessing nuclear waste.
Both activities can have peaceful uses but can also provide pathways towards the development of nuclear weapons.
The United Arab Emirates accepted restrictions on uranium enrichment and nuclear waste reprocessing in its 2009 agreement with Washington, provisions often described as the “gold standard” for US civilian nuclear cooperation.
The Trump administration, however, says the Saudi agreement contains the non-proliferation safeguards required under US law.
Henry Sokolski, head of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said sending the agreement to Congress could allow it to proceed even without Saudi-Israeli normalisation or stronger restrictions on nuclear activities.
“This is hardly ideal if you’re serious about no enrichment and recognition of Israel,” Sokolski said.
The Saudi government has not immediately commented on the development.
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