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US to allow Saudi Arabia nuclear programme

July 22, 2026

The US is preparing to announce a deal permitting Saudi Arabia a nuclear programme, AP News reports, with BBC and The Guardian carrying the plan and its terms still emerging.

AP News leads the coverage: Washington is preparing to announce a deal that would allow Saudi Arabia a nuclear programme, an agreement due to be unveiled Wednesday. BBC and The Guardian carry the story with their own angles, and BBC adds via The Wall Street Journal that the deal has Trump's approval and would run 30 years. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, traveling in the Philippines, says any deal the US signs will not create a proliferation risk, an assurance AP News reports and other outlets echo.

The outlets agree on the precedent: the United Arab Emirates signed a 123 agreement with the US, the standard nonproliferation framework, and that fact is corroborated by BBC, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. They diverge on a narrower point: AP News and The Guardian report that the White House and Saudi officials in Riyadh did not respond to requests for comment, while BBC's account differs on whether officials have engaged. AP News alone reports that Saudi Arabia and nuclear armed Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact after Israel's strike on Qatar; no other outlet corroborates it, so that claim rests on AP News alone.

What is settled: a deal is imminent, the UAE precedent, and Rubio's public assurance. What is not: the deal's actual terms, whether Riyadh gets enrichment rights the UAE gave up, and Israel's response, where BBC reports concern among nuclear experts and former officials that the plan could unsettle the region's balance.

Still developing

The deal's terms, including enrichment limits and safeguards, are unreported, official comment from the White House and Riyadh is outstanding, and the reported Saudi Pakistan defense pact rests on AP News alone.

How settled the reporting is

Reported 41% · Contested 8% · Developing 51%

Sources