OMM Redaksiyası
Saudi Arabia has not ruled out developing a nuclear weapons programme, according to classified US intelligence assessments recently submitted to Congress, The Washington Post reported on Friday.
The assessments were provided to lawmakers alongside documents from the US State Department, which expressed greater confidence in Riyadh’s commitments and the safeguards included in the bilateral civil nuclear agreement, US officials told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.
Democrats raise non-proliferation concerns
A group of Democratic lawmakers led by Senators Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley said the agreement represented a departure from previous policy and could enable Saudi Arabia to acquire the means to enrich uranium and potentially develop nuclear weapons.
In a letter sent on Friday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the lawmakers argued that the administration of President Donald Trump had accepted looser restrictions in response to Saudi demands.
The State Department defended the arrangement, telling The Washington Post that the United States “does not and will not support a Saudi nuclear weapon program.”
What the agreement allows
Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman has previously said the country’s civilian nuclear programme is “peaceful” and conducted with “the highest levels of responsibility and transparency.”
Under the civil nuclear pact signed in July by Abdulaziz and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Washington agreed to provide technology and fuel. The agreement also establishes a conditional path to domestic uranium enrichment, initially limiting enrichment to below 5% and potentially allowing levels of up to 20% after an additional review.
The pact was submitted to Congress in August and is subject to a 90-session-day review period. House Democrats have introduced a joint resolution of disapproval, citing concerns over nuclear non-proliferation.
