President Trump, Energy Minister Rick Perry and Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo have a new problem on their hands. The new Saudi energy minister, Abdulaziz bin Salman, announced on Monday morning, 9 September, that the kingdom, which needs nuclear energy for its electricity, planned to enrich its own uranium.

The executive branch of the United States must be aware of Saudi Arabia’s new ambition to enrich uranium. Although this could be a new step towards electricity generation via nuclear energy, this move could be another step in the direction of uranium used for nuclear weapons production.

Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States formed a partnership with Saudi Arabia, repairing the ties that had been damaged during the Bush and Obama administrations. The United States and Saudi Arabia have similar regional objectives, particularly about the prevention of Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the fight against terrorism in the region. A relationship had begun under the aegis of Minister Rick Perry and Saudi energy minister Khaled al Falih, who had previously established ties and the same specialization at Texas A & M University.

Saudi Arabia has long suggested that it would seek to mine its own uranium and enrich it on its soil, but nobody in the government had admitted it as directly as Prince Abdulaziz did on Monday morning. The Saudis are convinced they have large deposits of uranium, but it would still be cheaper for them to import it, given the current situation. The Saudis probably do not have the skills they need to enrich uranium, but they could hire Russian or Pakistani engineers for the job. This announcement should leave the rest of the world puzzled as to why they would like to extract and enrich uranium instead of just buying it as most countries do.

That being said, it is necessary to understand that Saudi Arabia needs to build nuclear power plants for the production of electricity. Today, the kingdom burns natural gas and oil to get almost all of its electricity. This is expensive and represents a waste of natural resources that could be better used for sale. Also, natural gas and oil are high-carbon fuels that pollute the environment. Also, it is expected that Saudi Arabia will run out of these fossil fuels in about 70 years. But Saudi Arabia can not exploit coal or hydropower, which accounts for more than half of global electricity production because it lacks coal and rivers. Solar and wind technology is not yet sufficient to serve as a reference producer. Therefore, Saudi Arabia must produce nuclear energy — and it will.

Should Saudi Arabia enrich uranium? Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. Who will lead it in five, ten, or fifty years? Impossible to know, and impossible to know what will be the priorities of this man. Saudi Arabia is currently undergoing rapid economic change, and this can lead to unpredictability. Moreover, the country is in the centre of the Middle East, a very unstable region. It is currently in military conflict with rebel Houthis in neighbouring Yemen and a diplomatic row with Qatar and Iran. It would be a bad example for countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and others to allow Saudi Arabia to become a nuclear power without interfering.

The US administration, as well as the United Kingdom, France and others, should consider all options available to counter Saudi Arabia’s nuclear ambitions before it embarks on anything. going beyond the theoretical framework. An immediate response from a senior US official is needed. One of the aforementioned leaders is expected to start a conversation with the Saudis without delay, in response to the comments of the new energy minister.

The United States does not need to threaten Saudi Arabia. A warning might be enough. Saudi Arabia has witnessed the damage inflicted by economic sanctions on its enemy neighbour, Iran. It is to be hoped that the mere threat of a public split between the White House and the Saudi monarchy may be enough to force Saudi Arabia to rethink its reckless plans, But President Trump and his administration should act now if it is not already.

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