In a recent Wall Street Journal report, the outlet detailed American intelligence concerning Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program. More specifically, news outlets are reporting the the country is scaling up development of nuclear material. Accordingly, the fear is that said material will be used to produce a nuclear weapon. Stipulation scrutinized this story and found such reports to be NEUTRAL and unverified.
Context
The first indication of potential Saudi nuclear activity came last week in a Intelligence Authorization Act update. The presiding body, the House Intelligence Committee, added a provision to understand the potential for, and prevention of, nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
The Committee’s chairman, Adam Schiff, included a provision that required the Executive branch to update Saudi nuclear activity since 2015. Elements of this bill required briefings on the following:
(A) The state of nuclear cooperation between Saudi Arabia and any other country other than the United States, such as the Peopleās Republic of China or the Russian Federation.
(B) Efforts by Saudi Arabia to modernize and further develop the missile capabilities and program of Saudi Arabia, including with other countries other than the United States, such as China.
In addition to this unsuspected provision, The New York Times also reported on a classified study indicating nuclear action by Saudi Arabia. According to the Times, the analysis implied that China was helping Saudi Arabia acquire uranium. News outlets say that a potential Saudi-Sino nuclear relation is raising concerns within the US intelligence community. Because this report is not public, we cannot add further context, nor provide verification.
Highly-enriched uranium is a core component of nuclear weapons.
The motive behind this alleged move by Saudi Arabia is not yet substantiated, but it is likely to do with Iran. The Islamic Republic and the Saudi Kingdom have an adversarial relationship; the fierce rivalry is primarily based on longstanding religious sectarianism and subsequent proxy wars.
Saudi Arabia has been explicit about their ambitions to develop nuclear-based energy. In 2019, the Kingdom openly published an update on their Saudi National Atomic Energy Project. Moreover, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has constantly inspected Saudi’s nuclear developments. The IAEA, which is the world’s foremost nuclear proliferation oversight agency, has maintained Saudi Arabia adherence to nonproliferation. In two reviews (2018 and 2019), the IAEA established that Saudi Arabia was on its way to the “construction of its first nuclear power plantā within accepted international agreements.
Nevertheless, as tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia persist, ambitions for nuclear weapons cannot be ruled out. Further, as China sees the US as an antagonistic agent, they could look to destabilized the US’ alliance (with Saudi Arabia) by backing any potential nuclear weapons initiatives.
Who Reported It?
Perhaps a sign of bias, within a week of the initial WSJ report, very few outlets had published stories on the claim that Saudi Arabia was developing their nuclear program in advancement of weapons. Additionally, most of the outlets that did report on this claim have international/non-US origins. The following is a few organizations who published stories on the underlying report:
Bias Score
It should be noted that there have been many instances in the past where outlets have covered the burgeoning Saudi Arabia nuclear energy/weapons program. Nevertheless, we are only focusing on the most recent reports; especially those coming after the House passage of H.R.7856 – Intelligence Authorization Act FY 2021. Stipulation gave the report that Saudi Arabia is developing their nuclear program for weapons to be NEUTRAL and unverified. The report received a score of 14.219, which is decidedly neutral; neither politically biased or unbiased. What’s important, however, is that this report is (so far) unsubstantiated. For more information about how we determine reporting bias, visit our Methodology page.