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WASHINGTON – A group of Republican senators on Wednesday urged President Donald Trump to suspend negotiations with Saudi Arabia on a potentially lucrative deal on atomic energy following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Lawmakers headed by Marco Rubio of Florida said in a letter to the president that they had reservations about the transfer of nuclear technology even before Khashoggi's murder on Oct. 2 at the Saudi Arabian consulate. Istanbul. They warned that they would work to prevent an agreement from obtaining congressional approval if the administration got things done.
They expressed concern over Saudi Arabia 's refusal to consider an agreement on nuclear energy banning the kingdom from pursuing uranium enrichment and plutonium treatment. "likely to allow a country to produce a nuclear weapon in a few weeks". The United Arab Emirates has accepted the standard in a 2009 Civilian Nuclear Pact with the United States
The letter also criticized the leadership of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although senators do not mention it by name. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly modified its speech on the assassination of Khashoggi, finally admitting, after several denials, that Khashoggi had died inside the consulate and only recently recognizing that Turkish evidence showed that his assassination was premeditated. .
"The ongoing revelations about the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as some Saudi actions related to Yemen and Lebanon, have raised new concerns about the transparency, accountability and judgment of decision-makers in Saudi Arabia." , according to the letter. .
In addition to Rubio, the letter was signed by Sense. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Todd Young of Indiana and Dean Heller of Nevada.
A spokesman for the National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sharon Squassoni, a research professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, described the letter as "a rather minor request", given the seriousness of the allegations about the death of Khashoggi, a columnist at the Washington Post. 59 years old.
"Everything surrounding the killing of Khashoggi calls into question the rapprochement with Saudi Arabia," she said.
He disappeared after entering the consulate to collect papers for his next wedding. He lived in self-imposed exiles in the United States and published articles criticizing the government of Prince Mohammed.
A Turkish prosecutor said on Wednesday that Khashoggi had been strangled as soon as he entered the building as part of a premeditated murder and that his body had been dismembered.
The Trump administration has begun talks with Saudi Arabia on what is known as a "123 agreement". This name comes from the part of the Atomic Energy Act that sets the parameters for a major nuclear cooperation between the United States and other countries. Without this, US nuclear power companies such as Westinghouse would lose business opportunities with the Saudis.
With few new reactor builds in the United States, US companies are looking for opportunities abroad. But France, South Korea and, to a lesser extent, China and Russia compete with each other. The Saudis have begun to select contractors for the construction of the first of 16 nuclear power plants, at a cost of more than $ 80 billion.
Westinghouse Electric Co., which declared bankruptcy last year, refused to comment on the financial impact on the company if it were to be excluded from a Saudi nuclear project or relegated to a minor role.
The nuclear energy sector has struggled with the huge cost of building huge reactors and accelerating the shift to other forms of energy, such as natural gas and alternative energy, especially solar energy.
In July, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee approved a non-binding resolution stating that any US-Saudi nuclear deal must state that it would prevent a civilian nuclear program from becoming a gateway to nuclear weapon development. .
Robert Powers, senior director of legislative affairs at the Nuclear Energy Institute, a professional group advocating for the nuclear energy sector, warned in an email before the vote that the resolution would undermine foreign policy, national security and to the economic interests of the United States.
"China, France, the Republic of Korea and Russia are competing with the United States for engineering, procurement and construction work related to the initial purchase of two nuclear reactors, "writes Powers. "The winner of this contest will have an advantage with regard to the subsequent construction."
He said that there were other ways to prevent the spread of sensitive technologies.
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Contact Richard Lardner on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rplardner
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