RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and the US on Wednesday signed a cooperation agreement for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the Kingdom’s Energy Ministry said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday Saudi Arabia is an important strategic partner and that entering into a nuclear agreement with Riyadh makes sense.
Rubio said the cooperation pact with Saudi Arabia would result only in a peaceful, civilian atomic program.
“Suffice it to say that any agreement that we’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’t be turned into a weapons program,” Rubio said on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Manila.
“Saudi Arabia seeks to have a peaceful, civil nuclear program,” he told reporters, noting a similar deal was in place with the United Arab Emirates.
The deal, known as a “123 agreement,” which is required for Washington to engage in nuclear cooperation with another country, was formally signed by the Saudi minister of energy, Abdulaziz bin Salman, and the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, alongside what the Trump administration described as a “bilateral safeguards agreement.”
It builds on the historic strategic partnership between the US and Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Energy said in a statement, and follows the announcement by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during a visit to the US last November, of the successful conclusion of bilateral negotiations about cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
The agreement further “strengthens cooperation between the two countries in the fields of energy and advanced technologies,” the ministry added, to facilitate the exchange of expertise, knowledge and technologies. It also aims to also contribute to efforts to ensure the highest international standards for nuclear safety, nuclear security and nonproliferation.
“These agreements reflect our two nations’ shared commitment to strengthening US-Saudi commercial relations, delivering prosperity at home and security to our allies abroad,” Wright said in a statement.
— with input from AFP, AP
