The US-Saudi Arabia relationship

Analysis: Trump's agreement could be the start of a race

Trump's nuclear energy agreement with Saudi Arabia risks leading to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, analysts in several media outlets write.

In the NYT, Mark Landler writes that Saudi Arabia is unlikely to start developing nuclear weapons in the very near future. However, other countries, which have come much further in the process, may demand the same conditions.

"What's stopping Russia from demanding such an agreement?" Landler asks himself.

Azriel Bermant is on the same track in his analysis in Foreign Policy. He writes that countries such as Egypt and Turkey are also likely to demand the right to enrich uranium for civilian use. And even if Saudi Arabia is not the US's enemy today, it is impossible to know who will lead the country in 20 years, he points out.

CNN's Stephen Collinson writes simply that the deal is a perfect metaphor for Trump as president.

The deal, which sends a new wave of instability through the region, not only demonstrates Trump's willingness to circumvent international procedures, but also Trump's newfound taste for geopolitical risk.

"It's typical Trump. Whether he's rearranging the furniture in the Middle East or the White House, he's doing it without any knowledge of what will happen when the pieces fall into place."

Trump's conditions for helping with uranium enrichment

US President Donald Trump says he wants to help Saudi Arabia enrich uranium for nuclear power, but only for peaceful purposes and on condition that the country accepts the "Abraham Accords," he writes on Truth Social.

"The US is not opposed to civilian (not enriched) nuclear power plants," he writes, which the AP also reports on.

So far, only the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan – along with Israel – have signed the Trump-initiated agreement.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran are three other Muslim states that have so far remained outside and that Trump would like to include. Saudi Arabia has historically been far from Israel, among other things, the country does not have any diplomatic representation in the country, but it does have an ambassador in Palestine.

As recently as November, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that one condition for the country to sign the “Abraham Accords” was that there was a stated path towards a two-state solution.