President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that the civil nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia entirely depends on the kingdom adhering to the Abraham Accords in order to achieve regional peace.
"The Civil Nuclear Agreement (No enrichment of material!) being negotiated between the U.S. Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia, which pertains solely to non-military use like those that Iran and the UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but is entirely subject to Saudi Arabia joining the highly respected and successful Abraham Accords," Trump wrote on his social media.
The president made it clear that this pact —known as the 123 agreement, which allows Saudis to develop civil nuclear energy with U.S. technology— is strictly for peaceful use and outright dismissed uranium enrichment. The framework now goes to Congress, which has 90 legislative days to raise objections before it takes effect.
Trump and Saudi Prince bin Salman are close allies
Trump wants to promote regional peace with this agreement
However, Trump added a new clause to the understanding: that Riyadh joins the Abraham Accords, the historic diplomatic normalization agreements between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan that the Republican leader promoted and were signed during his first term.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed the agreement this week. The Trump administration argues that this understanding strengthens Washington's strategic alliance with a key partner in the Middle East, while consolidating U.S. influence in the region.
For the White House, working with Saudi Arabia is preferable to allowing the kingdom to seek nuclear assistance from geopolitical rivals like China and Russia. Both countries have been steadily increasing their nuclear arsenal in recent years, especially the communist regime of Xi Jinping.
