Saudi nuclear bid aimed at undermining Iran deal: Analyst
Saudi Arabia’s bid to expand its nuclear program with the help of the United States is aimed at undermining the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers, says an analyst.
Dr. Kevin Barrett, an author based in Wisconsin,made the remarks while discussing the planned resumption of US-Saudi talks on a lucrative deal for the construction of nuclear reactors in the kingdom.
The talks were frozen under the former US administration after the Saudis refused to accept Washington’s non-proliferation “gold standard” for civil nuclear cooperation deals.
The standard prohibits the recipient of the technology from enriching uranium and reprocessing plutonium, which could be used to produce fuel for nuclear weapons.
Under President Donald Trump, however, the two sides have resumed discussing nuclear cooperation, despite Riyadh’s continued insistence on bypassing that standard.
Barrett said Riyadh was intentionally asking the US for the project while so that it can secure favors in return.
Saudi Arabia “is playing the United States off against Russia and perhaps China where it could also go shopping for this kind of thing,” Barrett said.
What the Riyadh regime seems to be looking for in reality, Barraett said, is to join forces with the opponents of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and persuade Iran and the P5+1 countries—the US, the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany—to “toughen” it or simply drop out of it.
Iran has been fully compliant with its side of the agreement, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and has warned Washington against attempts to link unrelated issues to the accord, which has been endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution.
Trump has, on occasions, threatened to “tear up” the agreement or withdraw US’s participation in it despite the fact that the deal is multinational.
Saudi Arabia and Israel have been critical of the deal, saying it would harm their interests in the region.
“So I think that is what this was orchestrated to do; to put more pressure on the US allies and the more sane analysts here in the US and convince them to essentially press for a reworking of the Iran nuclear deal which would be a non-starter and would lead to the complete unraveling of that deal,” he argued.
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