Washington, July 30 (ANI): The United States is secretly moving ahead with its plans to hold talks with Saudi Arabia next week over a potential civilian nuclear pact, similar to the one it had recently concluded with India.
The Christian Science Monitor quoted congressional sources as saying that the Obama administration plans to hold "exploratory talks" in Riyadh next week over the issue, and also to explore whether the Saudi government would accept restrictions to ensure its nuclear fuel is used purely for civilian purposes.
The US has recently concluded civilian nuclear trade deals, or so-called "123" agreements, with India and the United Arab Emirates and is in advanced discussions with countries including Jordan, Vietnam, and South Korea.
If the deal is done, it could prove to be the most controversial of a string of such US deals in recent years, the paper said.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's interest in such an accord has raised intense suspicions, particularly in the US Congress.
"There aren't many countries you could come up with where people would be more energized in opposition to this kind of cooperation than this one," a House staffer who was informed on the administration's planned talks, said.
"It's an unstable country in an unstable region, and - fairly or unfairly - people think 9/11 when they think of Saudi Arabia. It would be an extremely hard sell," the staffer added.
The State Department had first announced Saudi Arabia's interest in gaining access to US nuclear technology for "medicine, industry, and power generation" in May 2008, and the US-Saudi relations have become considerably strained since then. (ANI)
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