Trump sends Saudi nuclear deal to Congress

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (YPA) – President Donald Trump has sent Congress a proposed agreement with Saudi Arabia on civil nuclear energy while insisting the pact will only be approved if the kingdom normalises relations with Israel, a US administration official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The agreement, which was reached in July and would allow US companies to export civilian nuclear technology to the kingdom, was sent to Congress on Monday, according to the US official, who declined to be identified.

“The president’s position has not changed that the agreement will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords,” the US official said in an email, referring to US-brokered agreements between Israel and Arab and Muslim-majority nations to normalize relations.

This comes days after Trump agreed to the Saudi nuclear deal in July. Trump, who pursued a similar pact during his first term, made normalization with “Israel” a condition for the agreement to take effect.

@E.Y.M