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Saudis willing to cooperate with IAEA
Saudi Arabia is willing to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, a foreign ministry official said Sunday after the United States, Europe and Australia had urged the kingdom to allow in nuclear inspectors. The joint diplomatic push was sparked by concerns the Saudis could be exempt from outside policing of their nuclear agenda under an agreement they negotiated with the International Atomic Energy Agency and bypast Saudi nuclear ambiguities, including reported interest in a weapons program. The foreign ministry official said Saudi Arabia "does not own any nuclear facilities or reactors," according to comments reported by the official Saudi Press Agency. The official said Saudi Arabia was committed to cooperating with the IAEA and "supports all the steps and efforts to establish areas free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction." The news agency did not name the official. Adel al-Jubeir, a senior Saudi foreign policy adviser, has said Saudi Arabia has "no desire to acquire any type of weapon of mass destruction, period." He denied reports, some based on U.S. intelligence, that Saudi Arabia has sought possible nuclear weapons help from Pakistan. The Saudis deny any plans to develop nuclear arms, and diplomats close to the IAEA say the agency has no firm evidence to the contrary. |
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