Trump must end nuclear talks with Saudis: US senators

The US administration must discontinue nuclear power development talks with the kingdom as instability rocks the Middle East, Senators Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

The congressmen have been concerned over Riyadh's reluctance to agree to the gold standard of non-proliferation that would block it from enriching uranium and reprocessing spent fuel, potential pathways to making a nuclear bomb.

"Sharing nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia, especially without adequate safeguards, will give Riyadh the tools it needs to turn the crown prince's nuclear weapons vision into reality," said the letter from Markey and Merkley, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

Earlier this week, Perry told reporters during a nuclear power conference in Vienna that the US will only provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear power technology if Riyadh signs an agreement with a UN watchdog permitting snap inspections.

But the kingdom has so far refused to agree to non-proliferation restrictions.

Last year, after de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that while his country does not want nuclear weapons, it will pursue them if its rival Iran develops one.

The weekend strikes on Abqaiq - the world's largest oil processing facility - and the Khurais oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia roiled energy markets and revived fears of a conflict in the tinderbox Gulf region.

Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure has been hit before, but Saturday's attack was of a different scale, abruptly halting half the OPEC kingpin's output - some six percent of the world's oil supply.

Follow us on Twitter: @The_NewArab