US President Donald Trump has approved what officials in his administration described as a “historic” agreement with Saudi Arabia to provide the kingdom with a civilian nuclear program, according to US officials cited by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
According to the two newspapers, the new agreement is valued at tens of billions of dollars, will remain in effect for 30 years, and is designed to give US companies a central role in developing Saudi Arabia’s nuclear infrastructure while excluding other foreign competitors.
The agreement opens the door to uranium enrichment on Saudi soil, but only under US-imposed conditions, the details of which remain unclear, according to two informed sources who spoke to CNN.
According to the two US newspapers, the agreement is expected to be submitted to Congress for review and could face obstacles from lawmakers concerned that helping Saudi Arabia achieve its long-standing goal of enriching its own uranium could trigger new rounds of nuclear proliferation and competition.
Saudi Arabia is a member state of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Nevertheless, the kingdom is not expected to sign its “Additional Protocol,” which would allow for expanded monitoring, inspections, and verification.
Trump and former president Joe Biden both sought to reach a nuclear agreement with the kingdom to facilitate the exchange of US technology. However, the Biden administration tied nuclear cooperation with Riyadh to other political issues.
Nuclear nonproliferation experts warn that the presence of any centrifuges used to enrich uranium inside Saudi Arabia could pave the way for a Saudi weapons program, particularly since Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has previously stated that the kingdom would not stand idly by and would seek to acquire a nuclear weapon to maintain the balance of power if Iran succeeded in developing its nuclear arsenal.
The agreement is scheduled to be signed by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. The two ministers discussed developing the kingdom’s commercial energy sector during Wright’s 2025 visit to Saudi Arabia.
According to the Saudi newspaper Sabq, the agreement includes a key provision under which US companies would build a uranium enrichment facility inside the kingdom following a joint Saudi-US study over two years to assess the commercial feasibility of domestic enrichment compared with imported fuel.
The newspaper said this provision fulfills a long-standing Saudi demand, as the kingdom considers its civilian nuclear program a cornerstone of diversifying energy sources and making use of domestic uranium deposits, allowing it to allocate more oil for export and maximize national revenues in line with the goals of Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defense agreement after Israel launched an attack on Qatar targeting Hamas officials. Officials said the timing of the agreement was not a response to specific events but rather the culmination of years of discussions between Riyadh and Islamabad.
Pakistan’s defense minister said at the time that his country’s nuclear program would be “made available” to Saudi Arabia if necessary.
