Some lawmakers in both parties are warning that the newly inked U.S. nuclear agreement deal with Saudi Arabia could ignite a Middle East arms race at a particularly dangerous moment — when the Iran war is already provoking conflict across the region.
While the deal is the culmination of a process that started before the war with Iran, announcing it now has an immediate effect on the fighting, argued Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has been critical of Saudi Arabia.
“Everything that happens in Riyadh has a reaction in Tehran,” he said. “Part of the reason the United States has been reluctant to give this agreement to Saudi Arabia is because we knew it would end up pushing Iran closer to a nuclear weapon, and that remains true today.”
Even the potential of future nuclear enrichment by Saudi Arabia could swiftly shift the balance in the region and beyond, said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.).
