Saudi Arabia wants a nuclear deal with the US: Bomb or no Bomb?
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman was implicated the CIA in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. US intelligence agencies were previously looking into the mystery of whether the crown prince was laying the groundwork for building an atomic bomb.
The 33-year-old heir to the Saudi throne had been overseeing a negotiation with the Energy Department and the State Department. He wanted to get the United States to sell designs for nuclear power plants to the kingdom. The deal was worth upward of $80 billion. The deal depended on how many plants Saudi Arabia had decided to build.
But the main problem arises from the fact that Saudi Arabia is insisting on producing its own nuclear fuel. They could buy it more cheaply abroad. This has raised concerns in Washington. The Saudis could divert the fuel into a covert weapons project. This was exactly what the United States and the allies were fearing Iran was doing.
Eyebrows were raised earlier this year when Prince Mohammad declared that if Saudi Arabia’s fiercest rival, Iran, were to build a nuclear bomb, Saudi Arabia would soon follow them. The negotiations stirred more worries when Saudi Arabia refused to sign an agreement that would allow United Nations inspectors to look anywhere in the country for signs the Saudis might be working on a bomb.
The question on the production of nuclear fuel was dodged Energy Secretary, Rick Perry. Perry had previously been part of a secret meeting with the Saudis.
The standing of the negotiations is still unclear. Can the Saudis be trusted with nuclear fuel and technology? Such fuel can be used for benign or military purposes. If uranium is enriched to 4 per cent, it acts as a fuel. At 90 per cent, it can be used as a bomb.
Should Saudi Arabia be allowed to possess such technology? What do you think?
