The United States and Saudi Arabia may have signed a landmark civilian nuclear agreement, but it has quickly become a study in policy ambiguity. Within hours of the announcement, President Donald Trump publicly insisted that the arrangement would ultimately depend on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords and recognising Israel ~ a condition that many believed Washington had abandoned.

Until the agreement itself is made public, it remains unclear whether the White House has reversed course, clarified an earlier omission or exposed divisions within its own policymaking. That uncertainty matters because the agreement is about far more than nuclear power. It will shape the future of America’s non-proliferation policy, its strategic competition with China and Russia, and the balance of power in West Asia. The most consequential unanswered question concerns uranium enrichment. Early reports suggested the agreement could eventually permit Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium on its own soil under American supervision.

Trump subsequently stated that no such right would be granted. The distinction is fundamental. Enrichment is indispensable for civilian nuclear fuel, yet the same technology can also provide........

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