Saudia Arabia’s Uranium Reserves Raising Fears Of Nuclear Arms Race With Iran
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Saudia Arabia has reportedly enough mineable uranium ore reserves to produce nuclear fuel, raising fears of a possible nuclear arms race with regional rival Iran.
The findings leaked this week come after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman warned in 2018 that if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, “we will follow suit as soon as possible.” Iran claims its ongoing atomic program is for “peaceful purposes.”
Details of Saudi Arabia’s uranium stockpiles are contained in reports prepared for the kingdom by Chinese geologists, reported The Guardian newspaper. The British daily suggested that China was scrambling to help Riyadh map its uranium reserves “at breakneck speed” as part of their nuclear energy cooperation agreement.
A survey report describes how geologists worked all year round despite blistering summer heat to identify reserves that could produce over 90,000 uranium tons. They were apparently uncovered from three significant deposits in the center and northwest of the kingdom.
The Guardian noted that further exploration would be needed to confirm uranium reserves and calculate the extraction cost. There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia to the revelations. China reportedly began prospecting work in 2017 across nine different areas identified as having future uranium deposits and finished at the end of last year.
It was unclear whether the developments could negatively impact a possible U.S.-brokered peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with Israel. His announcement followed diplomatic moves taken by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates at a White House ceremony this week. Hours after saying some five or six countries were on the path to peace with Israel, Trump revised that number to nine nations.
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