".... diplomacy, multilateralism and global standards are a better choice than a race for the bomb."

The Guardian view on a US-Saudi nuclear agreement: an offer that further erodes international safeguards

Editorial

Opinion 

US foreign policy

 

Even if no reactors are built, Donald Trump’s announcement of a double-standards deal with Riyadh has wrought further damage in a new era of proliferation

 

Sun 26 Jul 2026 12.29 EDT 

Even as he threatened to escalate an unlawful war sold in part as preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, Donald Trump opened the door to proliferation in the region on Wednesday. The US announced that it had signed a deal with Saudi Arabia which would potentially allow the kingdom to enrich uranium in future and to avoid the fullest inspection rights for the international watchdog.

Experts have long warned that a civilian nuclear programme could create a path towards a nuclear-armed Riyadh. Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince and de facto leader, has said that if Tehran gets a nuclear weapon, “we will have to get one”. Concerns are magnified by the agreement’s terms. Washington previously argued that the “gold standard” was the United Arab Emirates’ agreement to permanently forgo enrichment and accept full monitoring by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency. Weakening it sets a precedent that Russia or China could also cite in nuclear deals in future.

The turmoil that Mr Trump has created in the Middle East is encouraging governments both to hedge their bets and to tool up. The US paused attacks on Iran at the weekend, after 13 successive days of strikes, amid reports that it is concerned about declining interceptor stockpiles, but no exit is in sight. As António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said on Thursday, the region “is teetering on the edge of [the] unimaginable … One crisis feeds another. One escalation triggers the next.” ... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/26/the-guardian-view-on-a-us-saudi-nuclear-agreement-an-offer-that-further-erodes-international-safeguards

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The Guardian view on Israel, the US and Iran: you can’t bomb your way out of nuclear proliferation- The age of disarmament is over. But military action only increases the dangers instead of ending the threat

 ....The 2003 US invasion of Iraq, coupled with the survival of North Korea, sent the message that the safest course is not to shun weapons of mass destruction but to pursue and cling to them at all costs. Attacking Iran, which limited its programme in exchange for sanctions relief, will only fuel that conviction. It may set back Tehran’s nuclear progress somewhat, but makes it more likely to rush for the bomb – and avoid the international scrutiny it previously accepted. Saudi Arabia and others would surely follow fast. Arab and Muslim countries have rightly denounced Israel’s strikes and called for disarmament “without selectivity”. The current crisis makes that look a more hopeless cause than ever – but is the clearest evidence of why it is needed in place of a nuclear race which can have no winners.

Smoke rises after an Israeli attack on Tehran. ‘Israel does not appear to be striking Iran because US nuclear diplomacy has failed, but because it fears it might succeed.’ Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/18/the-guardian-view-on-israel-the-us-and-iran-you-cant-bomb-your-way-out-of-nuclear-proliferation

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Saudi Arabia's challenge to the United Nations... If a wealthy and pivotal country like Saudi Arabia declines to wield greater power at the UN, what might become of the hope to create a stable and useful “international community”?

"The Saudi Foreign Ministry gave plenty of reasons for its rebuff of the UN offer. Its most immediate concern is the lack of UN punishment for Syria’s use of chemical weapons. Another one is the failure to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli dispute and to create a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction. But the general complaint was that the Security Council’s “double standards” and its tilted power structure favoring five permanent members have prevented the UN “from keeping world peace.”..."

The United Nations Security Council votes on a resolution last month. Saudi Arabia, after being elected to a seat on the body, reject the offer Friday, citing the body's inability... to keep world peace.

 http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Monitor-Political-Cartoons#746629 

When Saudi Arabia refuses a seat on the powerful UN Security Council, does it say more about the UN or the royal House of Saud?

By the Monitor's Editorial Board / October 18, 2013 

For nearly seven decades, much of humanity has projected its inherent idealism onto the United Nations, or at least the values it stands for. So when one country, Saudi Arabia, is elected to be a member of the powerful Security Council – and then rejects it – is the UN itself to blame?

That was the question Friday after the Middle East kingdom refused a seat on the 15-member Council for a two-year term. The surprise move sent shock waves among diplomats. Council seats are coveted for their prestige and ability to influence global events. If a wealthy and pivotal country like Saudi Arabia declines to wield greater power at the UN, what might become of the hope to create a stable and useful “international community”?...READ MORE

Arab American Institute's Omar Baddar: In Defense of Hamza Kashgari

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http://www.aaiusa.org/blog/entry/in-defense-of-hamza-kashgari/
In Defense of Hamza Kashgari

Posted by Omar Baddar Thursday February 16, 2012

On the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad’s birth, Saudi columnist Hamza Kashgari did something a bit unusual on Twitter: he said that the prophet was someone about whom he had likes and dislikes, and that if he ever met him, he would afford him no more respect than he would afford a friend and an equal. Will most devout people like Kashgari’s attitude? Of course not. But are his comments so bad as to cause a major uproar and calls for his head? Apparently, the unfortunate answer to that is “yes.”

Kashgari’s tweets caused a major uproar all over social media, with tens of thousands of people joining a Saudi Facebook group calling for Kashgari’s punishment, and many calling for his head. Kashgari deleted the tweets, apologized and repented, but the virtual mob was not satisfied. A widely-shared video online was that of a religious leader weeping over Kashgari’s offence before declaring his repentance futile and demanding his execution. In fear for his life, Kashgari fled his country and headed to New Zealand, but was caught by the Malaysian police on the way and was extradited back to Saudi Arabia where he will now face trial.

It's one thing for some mob of fanatics to be making threats, and it's something else entirely for there to be international police cooperation, potentially involving Interpol, to capture and assist in the punishment of an individual whose "crime" is exercising his right to free speech. To be a proponent of free speech is to respect people’s right to self-expression, no matter how distasteful or offensive their views may be. And Kashgari's case is notably mild, as his language, while lacking the veneration widely expected in his society, wasn't even extreme in any way that indicated he was deliberately seeking to infuriate. If there is to be international cooperation, it should be in defense of Kashgari's right to speak his mind without fear of death, not cooperation to assist in bringing him closer to that potential fate. The international community should not be silent in the face of international accommodation of mob-inspired "justice," it should be raising its voice in defense of elementary human rights.

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." -- Article 19 of the UN Declaration for Human Rights

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The Arab American Institute (AAI) is a nonprofit organization committed to the civic and political empowerment of Americans of Arab descent. AAI represents the policy and community interests of Arab Americans throughout the U.S. through two primary focus areas: campaigns and elections, and policy formulation and research.

The Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF) was founded by the Arab American Institute in 1995. AAIF supports programs that promote greater awareness of Arab Americans in the U.S., demographic research and international outreach. AAIF serves as the primary national resource on the Arab American experience for the media, academia, government agencies and the private sector.

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