Call Out Hypocrisy of Trump Administration for Letting Saudi Arabia Develop Nuclear Program While Waging War on Iran
Washington (March 18, 2026) - Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), co-chairs of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, and Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), along with Representative Joaquin Castro (TX-20), today wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding the Trump administration must meet the “gold standard” of nuclear non-proliferation protections by denying Saudi Arabia the means to produce weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, materials that could be used in a nuclear bomb. The letter was also signed by Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), along with Representatives Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).
The lawmakers raised concerns about giving Riyadh permission to acquire sensitive nuclear technology as Donald Trump wages a reckless and illegal war with Iran over its uranium enrichment program. As a Senator, Secretary Rubio was among the loudest voices warning about the dangers of giving Saudi Arabia, which has openly expressed an interest in developing nuclear weapons, access to nuclear technology. Now, Secretary Rubio and President Trump risk the security of the United States and its allies in the Middle East by potentially enabling nuclear proliferation in Saudi Arabia and igniting an arms race in the region.
In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “The Administration’s recent report to Congress on its proposed U.S.-Saudi nuclear cooperation agreement, commonly referred to as a ‘123 agreement,’ states that ‘Saudi sovereignty concerns . . . inform its position on the Additional Protocol.’ To address this, the proposed agreement instead requires a new Bilateral Safeguards Agreement that would cover the most ‘proliferation-sensitive areas’ such as ‘enrichment, conversion, fuel fabrication and reprocessing.’ In other words, the proposed U.S.-Saudi 123 agreement will not require Riyadh to accept the Additional Protocol. Further, the agreement would appear to allow Saudi Arabia to acquire both enrichment and reprocessing technologies, which could enable Riyadh to produce weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, the essential ingredients for nuclear weapons, if they chose to do so.”
The lawmakers continued, “Such an agreement with a nation that has previously suggested its interest in acquiring nuclear weapons is an irresponsible proliferation risk without the proper safeguards. Saudi leaders have in the past indicated their interest in acquiring nuclear weapons. Giving Riyadh permission to acquire the most sensitive nuclear technology, particularly without the strongest non-proliferation protections, would be highly destabilizing for the Middle East and could lead other states to reconsider their nuclear options.”
The lawmakers requested answers to the following questions by April 1, 2026:
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