{"id":16184,"date":"2026-07-24T23:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T18:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16184"},"modified":"2026-07-24T23:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T18:29:14","slug":"trumps-hunt-for-leverage-over-saudi-arabia-fuels-nuclear-proliferation-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16184","title":{"rendered":"Trump&#8217;s hunt for leverage over Saudi Arabia fuels nuclear proliferation concerns\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">U.S. officials say the historic nuclear energy deal between the<!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->U.S. and Saudi Arabia, signed by both governments this week, presents the possibility that uranium enrichment could eventually happen on Saudi Arabian soil while omitting a requirement for expanded oversight.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Opening the door to enrichment in Saudi Arabia without specific international safeguards in place has raised concern from nuclear proliferation experts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">And as President Donald Trump hunts for ways to expand on a landmark diplomatic breakthrough from his first administration, revelations about the contents of the deal are also sparking speculation that Riyadh&#8217;s enrichment capabilities may ultimately be decided by its willingness to establish a diplomatic relationship with Israel.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">On Thursday, President Trump seemed to throw a wrench into the newly struck energy deal &#8212; which sources say doesn\u2019t explicitly mention Israel &#8212; <!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->by conditioning it on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords, a series of bilateral agreements between Israel and Arab states that were initially signed during Trump&#8217;s first term in office.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump wrote in a social media post that the deal with Saudi Arabia &#8220;will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The president also wrote in the post that there would be &#8220;no enrichment of material.&#8221;<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Both of the president&#8217;s claims, that the Abraham Accords and a Saudi promise not to enrich were part of the deal, are not elements of the signed agreement, sources told ABC News.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Officials anticipate both matters could be resolved<!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->down the line. They say the nuclear cooperation agreement stipulates that the future of Saudi enrichment will be decided only after the U.S. carries out a two-year study to explore the possibility of its commercial viability compared to importing nuclear fuel, and that the administration can still decide against transferring enrichment technology while cooperating with Riyadh on building nuclear energy plants.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"oLzSq QrHMO fnRUo pvsTF EhJPu vPlOC zNYgW OsTsW RMeqy daRVX ISNQ sKyCY eRftA acPPc MENS nFwaT MCnQE mEeeY SmBjI xegrY rPLsU iulOd NIuqO zzscu lzDCc aHUBM IEgzD OjMNy eQqcx SVqKB GQmdz jaoD VWDdR ONJdw vrZxD OnRTz gbbfF roDbV GPGwb oMlSS gfNzt oJhud eXZcf zhVlX \">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage GpQCA lZur asrEW \" data-testid=\"prism-inline-image\">\n<figure class=\"kzIjN GNmeK pYrtp dSqFO \" data-testid=\"prism-figure\">\n<div class=\"GpQCA lZur \" style=\"padding-bottom:70.17746913580247%\" data-testid=\"prism-ratio-frame\">\n<div class=\"FvQLF iLTd NqeUA UzzHi iWsMV \"><picture data-testid=\"prism-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 414px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/a5ad31c9-9021-407b-8d1b-ec7268953047\/trump-bin-salman-gty-jef-260724_1784917189600_hpMain.jpg?w=375, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/a5ad31c9-9021-407b-8d1b-ec7268953047\/trump-bin-salman-gty-jef-260724_1784917189600_hpMain.jpg?w=750 2x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 415px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/a5ad31c9-9021-407b-8d1b-ec7268953047\/trump-bin-salman-gty-jef-260724_1784917189600_hpMain.jpg?w=750, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/a5ad31c9-9021-407b-8d1b-ec7268953047\/trump-bin-salman-gty-jef-260724_1784917189600_hpMain.jpg?w=1500 2x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR SjwtZ hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/a5ad31c9-9021-407b-8d1b-ec7268953047\/trump-bin-salman-gty-jef-260724_1784917189600_hpMain.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"nMMea bNYiy Mjgpa dGwha DDmxa jgKNG RGHCC aBIU PriDW aiQHS lZur \" data-testid=\"prism-caption\">\n<p><span class=\"hsDdd OOSI GpQCA lZur VlFaz \" data-testid=\"prism-truncate\"><span><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">Donald Trump welcomes Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia during an arrival ceremony at the White House on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ YNujN JGtjI aZFDu rkKLh \">Win Mcnamee\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;It&#8217;s just notable to me that we&#8217;re making contingent Saudi enrichment &#8230; on recognition of a relationship with Israel,&#8221; said Richard Nephew, a former State Department and National Security Council official. &#8220;Maybe that works, but I don&#8217;t know. It just seems to me that we&#8217;re adding more complexity there, and I am at least a little bit suspicious that that will be harder to pull off.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump administration officials told ABC News they believe the contours of the agreement could give it more leverage over Riyadh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The two-year study is set to wrap shortly before Trump&#8217;s term expires, which administration officials say could give them an adequate runway to broker a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;It could also be [that] the issue of normalization could also be shuttled into this supposed two-year &#8230; discussion on the actual need for enrichment,&#8221; said Simon Henderson, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and expert in Gulf affairs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated on Thursday conversations with Saudi Arabia would continue.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;The president is always the final dealmaker,&#8221; she said.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Saudi Arabia has not yet publicly responded to Trump&#8217;s assertion about the Abraham Accords, but U.S. officials said they did not anticipate that it would derail the energy pact.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Riyadh came close to normalizing relations with Israel under the Biden administration, but that progress was derailed after Hamas&#8217; attacks on Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel&#8217;s subsequent campaign in Gaza.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Since then, Saudi Arabia has consistently indicated that it would not sign onto the Abraham Accords unless a clear pathway to an independent Palestinian state is established, which Israel says would be an existential threat to its security.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Whether the Trump administration can overcome the impasse is unclear.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><strong class=\"vtkaO \">Why the deal is sparking proliferation concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The energy deal with between Riyadh and Washington is the product of months of negotiations, and Saudi Arabia managed to come away with several favorable terms that were once seen as non-starters by the U.S., sources said.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In addition to refusing to rule out uranium enrichment, officials say the Saudis also rejected what is known as the &#8220;Additional Protocol&#8221;&#8211; a legal agreement that grants the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expanded inspection and monitoring authority.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The IAEA must approve the safeguards agreement struck between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to ensure it is in compliance with the Nonproliferation Treaty, to which both countries are parties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In response to a question from ABC News, the IAEA said it is &#8220;aware&#8221; of a &#8220;plan to ask the IAEA to implement verification measures in relation to this bilateral agreement.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Agency&#8217;s Board of Governors will then consider authorization for the safeguards agreement to be implemented, it said.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Riyadh&#8217;s resistance of nuclear inspections in the Additional Protocol &#8220;is a red flag for future concerns and problems,&#8221; said Kenneth Brill, the former U.S. ambassador to the IAEA&#8217;s headquarters in Vienna.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;The U.S. should never have agreed to enrichment without a really strong inspections regime with the IAEA,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The prospect of a covert weaponization effort undertaken by Saudi Arabia, Henderson said, &#8220;is the most glaring problem of the agreement.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The kingdom &#8220;seem[s] curiously averse to the Additional Protocol &#8230; which rather suggests the Saudis have got something to hide,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in the Philippines on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia would not be able to convert the civil program to a weaponization effort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Suffice it to say that any agreement that we&#8217;re going to make with any country in the world on civil nuclear energy is going to be one that will have safeguards in place to ensure that it can&#8217;t be turned into a weapons program,&#8221; Rubio said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oLzSq QrHMO fnRUo pvsTF EhJPu vPlOC zNYgW OsTsW RMeqy daRVX ISNQ sKyCY eRftA acPPc MENS nFwaT MCnQE mEeeY SmBjI xegrY rPLsU iulOd NIuqO zzscu lzDCc aHUBM IEgzD OjMNy eQqcx SVqKB GQmdz jaoD VWDdR ONJdw vrZxD OnRTz gbbfF roDbV GPGwb oMlSS gfNzt oJhud eXZcf zhVlX \">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage GpQCA lZur asrEW \" data-testid=\"prism-inline-image\">\n<figure class=\"kzIjN GNmeK pYrtp dSqFO \" data-testid=\"prism-figure\">\n<div class=\"GpQCA lZur gIjeL \" data-testid=\"prism-ratio-frame\">\n<div class=\"FvQLF iLTd NqeUA UzzHi iWsMV \"><picture data-testid=\"prism-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 414px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/89282693-ea27-4181-b5b2-9d6b08d75e8f\/marco-rubio-1-gty-gmh-260722_1784728391494_hpMain.jpg?w=375, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/89282693-ea27-4181-b5b2-9d6b08d75e8f\/marco-rubio-1-gty-gmh-260722_1784728391494_hpMain.jpg?w=750 2x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 415px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/89282693-ea27-4181-b5b2-9d6b08d75e8f\/marco-rubio-1-gty-gmh-260722_1784728391494_hpMain.jpg?w=750, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/89282693-ea27-4181-b5b2-9d6b08d75e8f\/marco-rubio-1-gty-gmh-260722_1784728391494_hpMain.jpg?w=1500 2x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR SjwtZ hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/89282693-ea27-4181-b5b2-9d6b08d75e8f\/marco-rubio-1-gty-gmh-260722_1784728391494_hpMain.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"nMMea bNYiy Mjgpa dGwha DDmxa jgKNG RGHCC aBIU PriDW aiQHS lZur \" data-testid=\"prism-caption\">\n<p><span class=\"hsDdd OOSI GpQCA lZur VlFaz \" data-testid=\"prism-truncate\"><span><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with the United States during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers&#8217; Meeting, July 22, 2026 in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ YNujN JGtjI aZFDu rkKLh \">Eloisa Lopez\/Pool via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Members of Congress have said that any nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia should meet a so-called &#8220;gold standard&#8221; by which Riyadh makes a commitment to forgo enrichment or reprocessing of fissile materials. Republicans, including Rubio when he was in the Senate, have made legislative efforts to attach strings to any such deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in November that the gold standard &#8220;has to be&#8221; included in any finalized deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In a statement to ABC News Thursday, Risch said he &#8220;look[s] forward to seeing the details of the agreement and working with the Administration to review it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I have talked to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about this on a number of occasions and both of us have been in agreement that an appropriate nuclear agreement would be in the best interest of both of our countries,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Olli Heinonen, a former deputy director-general for safeguards at the IAEA, said other countries, including South Korea, would likely follow Saudi Arabia in pursuing uranium enrichment and seeking &#8220;nuclear latencies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">&#8220;The original [Nonproliferation Treaty&#8217;s] nuclear disarmament takes a break,&#8221; Heinonen said, referring to the global pact barring the proliferation of nuclear weapons. &#8220;These are realities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. officials say the historic nuclear energy deal between the\u00a0U.S. and Saudi Arabia, signed by both governments this week, presents the possibility that uranium enrichment could eventually happen on Saudi Arabian soil while omitting a requirement for expanded oversight.\u00a0 Opening the door to enrichment in Saudi Arabia without specific international safeguards in place has raised&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/a5ad31c9-9021-407b-8d1b-ec7268953047\/trump-bin-salman-gty-jef-260724_1784917189600_hpMain_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}