U.S. announces civilian nuclear deal with Saudi

INTERNATIONAL – USA

24 JULY 2026

• The United States and Saudi Arabia announced a landmark deal that would establish a civilian nuclear programme in the kingdom, which U.S. President Donald Trump said was contingent on Riyadh normalising relations with Israel.
• The move comes as the U.S. fights a war with Iran that began in large part over concerns about Tehran’s nuclear programme — still a key point of contention in now-stalled peace talks.
• The deal is set to generate billions of dollars for American companies and is seen as a major win for Iran’s long-time regional rival, but critics fear it also carries risks.
• Washington has sought in recent years to tie any nuclear agreement and defence pact to Saudi normalisation with Israel, subject to Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords.
• Critics have insisted the deal — the text of which was not immediately made public — could precipitate a nuclear race in a region already battered by war.
• One provision would potentially see U.S. companies build a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The deal will be submitted to Congress for review, but the Republican-controlled legislature is unlikely to block its implementation.
• U.S. lawmakers from both parties and Israeli officials have previously voiced opposition to such a project over fears Saudi Arabia could eventually convert it to develop nuclear weapons.
• Policymakers have long feared that if Iran produced a nuclear weapon, the move would set off an arms race across the Gulf.

Abraham Accords, 2020

• The Abraham Accords are a series of agreements signed in 2020 that normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries.
• They were brokered by the United States during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
• They are named after Abraham, a figure revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, symbolizing shared heritage and the hope for cooperation among these faiths.
• Before 2020, many Arab countries followed the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which proposed that they would normalize relations with Israel only after a Palestinian state was established.
• The Abraham Accords marked a shift because some Arab states chose to establish relations with Israel without waiting for a final Israeli–Palestinian peace agreement.