Zarif reacts to US nuclear plan in Saudi Arabia

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has reacted to the US nuclear plan in Saudi Arabia, which has raised concerns among security analysts over the transfer of sensitive nuclear power technology to the kingdom.

News ID: 75732

Date: 20 February 2019 - 14:22

"Day by day it becomes clearer to the world what was always clear to us: neither human rights nor a nuclear program have been the real concern of the US. First a dismembered journalist; now illicit sale of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia fully expose[d]," wrote Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a tweet on Wednesday, capping it off with a #USHypocrisy hashtag.

His remarks were in reaction to a recent report from congressional Democrats that blew the whistle on the plan of key members of the Trump administration for selling nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia.

The report has raised serious concerns that the nuclear technology would allow Saudi Arabia to produce nuclear weapons in the future, potentially contributing to an arms race in the Middle East.

US President Trump met nuclear power developers at the White House on 12 February to discuss building plants in Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia; meanwhile, the Saudi kingdom has voiced interest in buying nuclear power plants to 'diversify the kingdom's energy sources.'

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