by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) — U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday in Riyadh that the U.S. is close to a landmark energy deal with Saudi Arabia to develop its civil nuclear industry, with a preliminary agreement expected soon.
Wright confirmed that the U.S. plans to sign a broad energy cooperation agreement within weeks, with a nuclear deal expected in the coming months.
“I think in the short run, we’ll sign a broader agreement about cooperation across the energy space, in partnerships, in investments, in investigations. Nuclear is certainly one of those areas,” Wright told Al-Arabiya News.
“To get a specific agreement to partner on commercial nuclear development in Saudi Arabia, that’ll take a little bit longer, that’ll be months, not weeks, but you’re gonna get there. I think it’s likely,” he added.
Wright noted that Saudi Arabia has yet to accept the non-proliferation conditions required under the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, which includes nine safeguards to prevent nuclear weapons development or material transfer.
“For a U.S. partnership and involvement in nuclear here, there will definitely be a 123 agreement … there’s lots of ways to structure a deal that will accomplish both the Saudi objectives and the American objectives,” he said.
A 123 agreement with Riyadh refers to Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which is required for the U.S. government and American companies to collaborate with Saudi entities on developing a civil nuclear industry.
In the past, talks had stalled over Riyadh’s refusal to rule out uranium enrichment or fuel reprocessing—key steps toward a bomb.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said that if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would pursue one as well, raising concerns among arms control advocates and some U.S. lawmakers about a potential civil nuclear deal.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The United States and Hungary have concluded 17 agreements covering nuclear energy, oil, and natural gas cooperation as Budapest faces pressure to reduce its reliance on cheap Russian energy.
Christian rights campaigners have welcomed Friday’s landmark decision by Pakistan’s Punjab province to criminalize child marriage by setting 18 as the minimum legal age for marriage. However, the killing of a Pakistani Christian shopkeeper in the same province cast a shadow over the celebrations.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday that countries participating in his Gaza “Board of Peace” have pledged more than $5 billion toward humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip, along with committing thousands of personnel to support new security arrangements in the enclave.
An additional 27 members of Venezuelan transnational criminal organizations, Tren de Aragua and its splinter faction, anti-Tren, have been indicted in New York in an ongoing prosecution of groups the Trump administration has designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
Two pastors in eastern Uganda who were reportedly attacked by a group of Muslim extremists have been discharged from a hospital and are continuing to recover at home, Worthy News learned Sunday.
Western leaders sought to project unity at the 2026 Munich Security Conference despite tensions over U.S. interest in acquiring Greenland, differences on ending the war in Ukraine, and questions surrounding the future of transatlantic cooperation.
The Pentagon is deploying the Navy’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the Middle East as the United States intensifies preparations for potential military action against Iran.