United States Senators Marco Rubio, Republican, and Bob Menendez, Democrat, called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the Trump administration's nuclear negotiations with Saudi Arabia amid reports that senior White House officials pushed for the sale of nuclear technology to Riyadh.
"We request that GAO conduct an urgent review of [the Department of Energy's] interactions with Saudi Arabia regarding nuclear cooperation," the senators wrote in a letter to Gene Dorado, who leads the GAO. They also called for involving relevant agencies, particularly the State Department, and the specific initiatives or proposals for nuclear cooperation that have been presented or discussed in those interactions.
The two said in their letter that members of the Foreign Relations Committee, including both of them, are concerned that discussions on nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia "are happening in a very opaque manner" and that "DOE’s interactions with Saudi Arabia are not being fully coordinated within the interagency and that other key agencies, such as the State Department, may not be fully engaged or involved in the DOE-led discussions or negotiations."
Saudi Arabia is seeking to build at least two nuclear power plants, and has been in talks with the United States for years on the import of nuclear technology. It is also holding talks with other countries such as Russia, China and France.
Trump Administration officials warned that if US does not cooperate with Saudi Arabia in the field of nuclear technology, the Kingdom will undoubtedly resort to other countries, saying that such a situation could harm US-Saudi ties.
Fears, however, mounted in Congress late 2018, after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS News that the kingdom would quickly move to obtain a nuclear bomb if Iran successfully develops its own.
“Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible,” he said.
Senators Rubio and Mendez said that before they can approve a nuclear agreement, referred to as a 123 agreement, committee members would want to ensure that it does not create a security threat.
“Before the committee approves a 123 agreement with Saudi Arabia, Members would want to be assured that any agreement includes rigorous nonproliferation safeguards and other conditions,” they said in their letter.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry said that the US-Saudi talks were making progress and that the US was working on a deal to support the kingdom’s plan to develop a nuclear power industry.
