Congress can tighten US-Saudi nuclear 123 pact without discarding it, experts say

A nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia, submitted by the Trump administration, will become active by the end of the year unless Congress intervenes. Critics note the pact departs from the “gold standard” by allowing possible Saudi enrichment and reprocessing, and by substituting a bilateral safeguards pact for the IAEA’s Additional Protocol. Levite and Sharp propose that Congress can improve the deal without discarding it, recommending measures such as tying U.S. technology transfers to verified Saudi investment, prohibiting future administrations from altering core terms without congressional approval, sharpening the two-year enrichment study’s criteria, demanding full IAEA access, requiring U.S. vendors to embed peace-only clauses, establishing regular congressional reviews, and linking the agreement’s success to Saudi participation in the Abraham Accords. These steps aim to secure U.S. industrial benefits while limiting proliferation risks and preserving leverage over Saudi policy.