Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

The U.S.-Saudi deal for a “civilian” nuclear program – which potentially, after a two-year study, includes permitting Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium – is a serious, dangerous mistake. The deal seems likely to lead to widespread nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East and redouble Iran’s determination to rapidly obtain nuclear weapons at all costs.

The two-year U.S.-Saudi study as to whether indigenous Saudi enrichment is economically warranted appears to solely look at whether enrichment would be economically profitable for Saudi Arabia. The study apparently fails to take into account the critical factors of the dangers of proliferation and an unstable Middle Eastern nation potentially obtaining nuclear weapons.

Further, the Saudis’ rejection of the “Additional Protocol,” for more rigorous monitoring and inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency means that monitoring will be inadequate. Even Iran signed the Additional Protocol (although Iran then failed to ratify and abide by it).

Moreover, the previous administration reportedly conditioned nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia on the Saudis normalizing peaceful relations with Israel. It is deeply dismaying that President Trump is giving away this leverage for bringing about a more peaceful Middle East. Especially when a nuclear Saudi Arabia would render the U.S. obligation to maintain Israel’s QME (qualitative military edge regarding conventional weapons) close to useless.

Another major concern is that Saudi Arabia’s current relatively amicable relations with the U.S. are far from guaranteed, and can turn into enmity in an instant – leaving the U.S. in the situation of having armed another hostile, radical regime. Remember: Iran’s nuclear program began with the U.S. “Atoms for Peace” program in 1957 – when Iran was friendly to the U.S. That turned into a nightmare of a close-to-nuclear-armed genocidal Islamist regime calling for death to America and America’s allies, and repeatedly attacking us.

Let’s also remember that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi nationals.

Further, there is a serious danger that Saudi Arabia will once again ally with the Iranian regime, as Saudi Arabia did recently, and whenever it suited the Saudis. If the Iranian regime survives, the U.S. and Israel could very well be faced with two major allied, hostile-to-America Middle-Eastern nuclear powers (or three, if Pakistan is included).

In 2016, Saudi Arabia suspended relations with Iran following Iranian attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions. But just seven years later, in 2023, Saudi Arabia and the Iranian regime reestablished their diplomatic and trade ties, and activated a security cooperation agreement, in a rapprochement brokered by China. Iranian-Saudi trade significantly increased.

Saudi Arabia then continued to support Iran throughout the 2025 Twelve-Day War: The Saudis refused to allow the U.S. to use bases in Saudi Arabia and officially condemned the United States for targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities in Operation Midnight Hammer. Saudi leadership also refrained from enforcing the snapback sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in September 2025.

The 2023 Iranian-Saudi rapprochement only collapsed after Iran targeted Saudi facilities in the current 2026 war. But another Iranian-Saudi rapprochement is likely after the current war is over. As the Qatari Middle East Council on Global Affairs noted in February, Saudi–Iranian détente is a strategic imperative for both nations.

Additional dangers to the U.S. stem from Saudi Arabia’s comprehensive strategic partnership with China – a major American adversary. Saudi-Chinese joint military exercises include joint naval training drills.

For even more information on why the nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia is a dangerous mistake, see the equally applicable reasons ZOA set forth in “ZOA Strongly Opposes Sale of F-35 Fighter Jets to Saudi Arabia, Which Violates U.S. Legal Obligations to Israel,” Nov. 17, 2025.

ZOA accordingly urges Congress to disapprove of this harmful, exceedingly dangerous U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal.