Trump sparks fear as he hands powerful nuclear technology to foreign power as Iran war spirals

Sign up HERE for DC InsiderSee more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 08:07 EDT, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 08:46 EDT, 22 July 2026 Donald Trump will allow Saudi Arabia to develop its own civilian nuclear program under a sweeping new deal as the Iran war spirals into the Red Sea and oil races toward $100 a barrel.The agreement is reported to be worth tens of billions of dollars and structured to give US companies a central role in building the kingdom's uranium enrichment facilities on Saudi soil. Saudi leaders are said to have agreed only to limited international inspections of the sites. Those arrangements are intended to stop enriched fuel being diverted towards weapons. Some US lawmakers and Israeli officials have opposed the plan, fearing the Saudis could use a civilian program as a stepping stone to nuclear weapons. Trump has dropped the previous condition that any such deal be tied to Saudi recognition of Israel.Trump's deal is expected to last 30 years and now heads to Congress, where opponents would need a veto-proof supermajority to block it.The agreement is controversial in part because the US went to war with Iran to stop Tehran from enriching uranium for its own nuclear program.It comes as the war widened this week, with Iranian-backed Houthi militants declaring a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia. The move threatens the Red Sea route through which the kingdom has been diverting millions of barrels of oil a day around the effectively closed Strait of HormuzClosing Bab al-Mandab as well could cut off a quarter of the world's oil and gas supply. Heightened tensions in the Gulf pushed Brent crude to $95 a barrel by Wednesday morning, according to the New York Times. Donald Trump will allow Saudi Arabia to develop its own civilian nuclear program under a sweeping new deal as the Iran war spirals into the Red Sea Iranian-backed Houthi militants declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia this week Trump's agreement is controversial in part because the US went to war with Iran to stop Tehran from enriching uranium for its own nuclear programSaudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has previously vowed that his country would 'without a doubt' build nuclear weapons if Iran developed them.The kingdom has faced mounting drone and missile attacks by Iran on its military and civilian infrastructure since Tehran's war with the US resumed earlier this month.