The US and Saudi Arabia are set to unveil a deal allowing the kingdom to build a civilian nuclear programme, with reports now confirming Washington has not made the agreement conditional on Saudi Arabia normalising diplomatic relations with Israel, according to the New York Times. President Donald Trump's administration is expected to announce the pact on Wednesday, and it could be worth billions of dollars to US firms involved in construction, marking a significant departure from Washington's usual non-proliferation stance and prompting concern from nuclear experts and former Israeli officials about a potential path to Saudi weapons capability.

Under the deal, US companies would run nuclear power facilities on Saudi soil, and following a joint study, Saudi Arabia could eventually be permitted to enrich uranium domestically at a US-built facility rather than importing fuel — a notably looser arrangement than the 2009 US-UAE nuclear agreement. The 30-year deal, already approved by Trump and estimated by the Wall Street Journal to be worth tens of billions of dollars, stipulates that if Washington objects to Saudi enrichment after the study, the kingdom would be barred from pursuing it alone or with another partner for 10 years; the plan now goes to Congress, where opposition is expected from lawmakers on both sides despite Republican control of both chambers.