Riyadh (Monitoring Desk) — A classified US report has claimed that Saudi Arabia has not completely ruled out the possibility of developing nuclear weapons.
According to the report, the assessment is included in classified documents provided to the US Congress.
The report comes at a time when the United States and Saudi Arabia have a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, under which the construction of nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia using US technology and cooperation on uranium enrichment have been facilitated.
The US State Department says Washington does not and will not support a Saudi nuclear weapons program, while the Saudi energy minister has also described the nuclear program as peaceful and limited to civilian purposes.
According to the report, uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing capabilities are a concern for nuclear non-proliferation experts because these technologies can also be used to develop weapons.