Historic agreement signed, Saudi begins journey to acquire nuclear energy

The United States has signed a landmark nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, which will allow the country to enrich uranium in the future. The US Department of Energy confirmed this in a statement.

The US Department of Energy said its Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman have signed a 'bilateral safeguards agreement' as well as a 'peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement', reports The Guardian.

As a result, US companies now have legal scope to directly participate in the construction of Saudi Arabia's civilian nuclear infrastructure and power plants.

The full details of the agreement have not yet been released.

However, the controversial agreement was announced at a time when the United States is engaged in a standoff to prevent Iran from enriching uranium domestically.