Fascinating timing

the Saudi-U.S. announcement on enriching fissile material

I warned a week ago today that my broken arm would shorten my columns for a while; today is a hard day for typing.

A New York Times headline this morning said “Saudis Reach Deal With U.S. That Could Let Them Enrich Nuclear Fuel”, with a reminder that Jerusalem and some U.S. lawmakers are decidedly uncomfortable with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia having any potential to move from a civilian nuclear program to a weapons program. Enriching uranium could, under the right circumstances, lead to a weapons program years from now.

What fascinates me is this accord occurs precisely as the president is demanding that Tehran abandon any notion of a nuclear program which could morph into a nuclear weapons capacity.

I don’t think anyone acquiring nuclear technology, whether Tehran, Taipei, or Timbuktu, is a good idea, in case you’re wondering. I’m from the school that nuclear weapons proliferating across the world is a bad idea but I understand why others seek them

Much press coverage focuses on distrust between Iranian and Israeli regimes, but do not forget that Tehran’s relations with Riyadh are hardly much better. How will this announcement impact the war now quoted as costing at least 37.5 billion dollars with no foreseeable end in sight? Will Tehran fold or become more determined to hold on to its options?

I have to assume President Trump assesses different perspectives and risks than those that seem visible from the statements and actions of the Iranians and other players in the region. Mr. Trump could be right, but he could also be seeing these individual nations as unrelated in their own assessments of a nuclear weapons threat, while the region sees this as a whole integrated problem. Anything nuclear provides a galvanizing motivation for many leaders around the world, doesn’t it?

Thank you for pondering these questions with me in Actions Create Consequences. I expect to face my surgery within a couple of days, so bear with me by providing your thoughts on these questions.

Thank you to the subscribers who support this column financially.

I hope you are enjoying a lovely summer afternoon, wherever you might be.

Be well and be safe. FIN

Joseph Gedeon and Lauren Gambino, “Hegseth tells Senate war in Iran has so far cost $37.5 bn at hearing to request more funds”, TheGuardian.com, 21 July 2026, retrieved at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/21/hegseth-pentagon-supplemental-funding-request-senate

Natan Odenheimer and Aaron Boxerman, “U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Stokes Israeli Concerns of Mideast Arms Race“, NewYorkTimes.com, 22 July 2026, retrieved at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/world/middleeast/saudi-nuclear-deal-israel.html

David Sanger, Edward Wong, and William J. Broad, “Saudis Reach Deal with U.S. that Could Allow them to Enrich Nuclear Fuel”, NewYorkTimes.com, 22 July 2026, retrieved at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/us/politics/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal.html?emc=edit_na_20260722&nl=breaking-news&segment_id=223483