Democrats' opposition to the nuclear deal between Washington and Riyadh

The senators expressed concern that the deal would give Saudi Arabia access to US technology used in the production of civilian nuclear power without enough restrictions and safeguards to prevent Riyadh from using the technology to develop nuclear weapons.

US Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley and Ed Markey have introduced a resolution aimed at blocking Donald Trump's deal with Saudi Arabia that would allow the kingdom to develop a civilian nuclear program.

According to Ambassador Arjan, their concerns stem from the lack of sufficient guarantees to prevent the use of American technology in the development of nuclear weapons.

The resolution, introduced by Merkley of Oregon and Markey of Massachusetts, is a joint resolution to reject the deal, a legislative instrument that requires a vote after Nov. 29.

According to the Hill, senators expressed concern that the deal would give Saudi Arabia access to U.S. technology used in the production of civilian nuclear power without enough restrictions and safeguards to prevent Riyadh from using the technology to develop nuclear weapons.

Merkley said in a press statement that it is imperative that countries seeking to develop civilian nuclear energy programs agree to what he called "gold standard" limits on reprocessing and enrichment of nuclear fuel, along with rigorous inspections of those programs to ensure they do not turn into covert programs to develop nuclear weapons.

Trump signed the agreement with the Saudi government in late July, allowing American companies to develop the kingdom's nuclear energy infrastructure for 30 years.

The deal doesn't need congressional approval to take effect, but it won't go into effect until a 90-day period has passed, giving lawmakers time to debate and possibly block the deal.

In the House of Representatives, the Democrats have presented a similar resolution. However, both resolutions seem unlikely to succeed, as repealing the deal would require Trump's signature, which is unlikely.

When announcing the agreement, Trump said that its implementation depends on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, an agreement that his administration concluded in 2020 to normalize relations between the Zionist regime and several countries in the region.

However, joining the accord was not part of the nuclear deal signed by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. Nevertheless, Wright told reporters at the time that negotiations on the Abraham accord would proceed in parallel with progress on the nuclear deal.