DID Press: US has warned Saudi Arabia that establishing an independent uranium enrichment capability could have serious consequences for nuclear cooperation between the two countries and put their nuclear agreement at risk.
According to Iranian media reports, Matthew Napoli, deputy director of the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation division at the US National Nuclear Security Administration, raised the issue during a speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Napoli stressed that compliance with strict nuclear nonproliferation standards is a fundamental condition for continued US nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
He warned that if Saudi Arabia moves to establish an independent uranium enrichment capability, Washington would consider the move a violation of the terms of the two countries’ nuclear cooperation agreement, known as the “123 Agreement,” potentially jeopardizing continued cooperation.