A bipartisan group of US senators is calling on the Trump administration to declassify and release all information related to a proposed civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, including two classified “side letters" negotiated with Riyadh.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Christopher Wright, the lawmakers argued that Congress and the public should be able to review the full terms of the agreement. The Reuters news agency reviewed the letter.
The senators pointed out that the United States has concluded dozens of so-called 123 nuclear agreements with other countries without keeping their terms secret.
“Access to the full text is required for the Senate and the public to have a clear understanding of the commitments being made on the nation's behalf and those being made by Saudi Arabia to the United States," the letter said.
The State and Energy departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The letter was led by Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Ed Markey of Massachusetts. It was signed by 13 additional Democrats, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and John Kennedy of Louisiana.
Trump submitted the proposed nuclear agreement to Congress in August, beginning a 90-day review period during which lawmakers can examine the pact and potentially seek to pass a resolution of disapproval. Members of Congress have since pressed the administration to make the classified side letters and other related documents public.
The agreement has also generated questions over whether Saudi Arabia's participation is linked to establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. Trump has said the nuclear deal will only take effect if Riyadh joins the Abraham Accords, although congressional aides have said the agreement itself contains no provision addressing normalization with Israel. The senators' letter did not address the issue.
The proposed 30-year agreement would provide for the construction of AP1000 nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia, in a project expected to be worth tens of billions of dollars. Westinghouse, which would benefit from the project, is jointly owned by Canada's Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management.
Some Democratic lawmakers and nuclear nonproliferation advocates have also raised concerns that the agreement does not explicitly prevent Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent nuclear material. Both activities can provide potential pathways toward developing nuclear weapons.
The United Arab Emirates accepted restrictions on enrichment and reprocessing as part of its 2009 civil nuclear agreement with Washington, provisions often described as the “gold standard" for such deals.
The Trump administration has maintained that the Saudi agreement contains the nonproliferation safeguards required under US law.
Two days after the agreement was signed, Trump said in the Oval Office that Saudi Arabia would have to join the Abraham Accords.
“I just say that in order to do it, they have to be a member of the Abraham Accords, which have been very successful. But it's time now that they do it."
Trump said concerns over Iran had previously prevented Saudi Arabia and other countries from joining the framework, but argued that Tehran's regional influence had weakened.
“They and others didn't want to do it because of the problem that they had with Iran. You don't have that problem anymore. You don't have a great power there anymore," continued the President.
“You have a problem, but the problem is disappearing day by day. They were the bully of the Middle East. They were not going to be that much of a bully anymore, probably," he said of Iran.
“At some point they'll join [the Abraham Accords]," the President continued, referring to Saudi Arabia. “They'll join, and they'll do their civil nuclear, no enrichment, it's civil nuclear."
The Abraham Accords were negotiated under the Trump administration during his first term and established diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab countries. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the agreements in 2020, becoming the first Arab states to formally normalize relations with Israel since Jordan did so in 1994.
Morocco and Sudan subsequently joined the framework, although Sudan's full ratification was delayed amid internal instability. Kazakhstan became the latest country to join in January of this year.
Saudi Arabia and Israel had been moving toward a potential normalization agreement before Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Riyadh subsequently suspended the US-backed normalization process following the attack.