Washington, DC -- Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Brad Sherman, John Garamendi, and Don Beyer, today issued the following statement raising serious concerns with the Trump administration’s nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia and announced the introduction of a Joint Resolution of Disapproval to block this agreement's entry into force.

“This U.S.-Saudi nuclear agreement dangerously departs from decades of nonproliferation standards and presents considerable risks. For decades, across administrations of both parties, the United States has committed to a clear nonproliferation policy that no new countries should be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. In order to prevent nuclear weapons development, two provisions are critical: the Gold Standard commitment to no enrichment and no reprocessing, and the Additional Protocol that allows International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections to confirm enrichment and reprocessing are not occurring. The proposed nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia fails to secure these critical safety measures. Several countries – including Saudi Arabia’s neighbor, the UAE – successfully pursued civilian nuclear cooperation under this framework. There’s no credible reason Saudi Arabia should get a weaker deal.

“A region already gripped by conflict and escalation does not need another nuclear power. Saudi Arabia's own statements make that risk explicit: In a 2023 interview, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said plainly that, ‘if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, we must obtain one as well.’ The Kingdom has also obtained multiple nuclear-capable Dongfeng-3 ballistic missiles from China and is actively developing its own long-range ballistic missile program that could provide the means to deliver nuclear weapons. Handing Saudi Arabia enrichment capacity under these conditions – even with the stipulations included in the agreement the administration has shared with Congress – isn’t just reckless nonproliferation policy, it’s an invitation to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

“That is why we are introducing a Joint Resolution of Disapproval to block this deeply flawed agreement and stop the Trump administration from further dangerous global nuclear proliferation.”

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