News / Interviews

Grave mistake to let Saudis bypass nuclear laws: Analyst

Friday, 05 April 2019 5:38 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 05 April 2019 5:43 AM ]

Satellite images from Google Earth of Saudi nuclear reactor

The United States makes the world a more dangerous place by allowing Saudi Arabia to dodge international norms on nuclear activities, says a commentator.

In a letter drafted to US Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday, a bipartisan group of American lawmakers have raised concerns about Washington’s nuclear dealings with Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has signed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s so-called Small Quantities Protocol, but it hasn’t adopted the rules and procedures that would allow nuclear inspectors to access potential sites of interest.

In an interview with Press TV on Friday, Ken Stone, treasurer of the Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War, said that it is “a dangerous precedent for the US to bypass its own regulations” and it is weakening the entire non-proliferation regime.

“That would be a great mistake to allow Saudi Arabia to bypass all these controls, because Saudi Arabia shows absolutely no concerns for international laws,” Stone said. “Allowing Saudi Arabia to bypass all the stringent controls makes the world a much more dangerous place.”

Lawrence Davidson, lecturer at the West Chester University, also said since Saudi Arabia is considered an economic ally of the United States, “the Trump administration particularly is determined to maintain good relations with the Saudis” and they have absolutely no moral concerns about what the Saudi kingdom is doing in this respect.