Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia voted in favour of adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN negotiating conference in 2017, but since 2021 it has abstained from voting on the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty. In 2023, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, expressed concern about ‘any country getting a nuclear weapon’, adding that if Iran were to get one ‘we will have to get one’.1 He and other Saudi officials have made similar remarks in the past, while emphasising that they have no plans at present to develop nuclear weapons.
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | No | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1988) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | No | |
| Party to an NWFZ | No | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2009) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1972) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1996) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Of concern |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| Test | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Abstained (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | Yes |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | No (Rescinded 2024) |
Latest developments
On 31 December 2024, Saudi Arabia rescinded its Small Quantities Protocol (SQP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), allowing for implementation of a full Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) and more stringent monitoring of its nuclear facilities. When in July 2024, Saudi Arabia submitted its request to rescind the SQP, Saudi Arabia said that it ‘continues to stand by its legally binding international commitments related to its national nuclear energy project’.2
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, said that his country ‘is working to create a world free of nuclear weapons’ and called upon ‘all States to preserve the non-proliferation regime while protecting the rights of States to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes’.3
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Saudi Arabia warned that the ‘development of nuclear weapons will inevitably lead to the creation of a fertile environment for the outbreak of wars and crises and the emergence of military blocs’.4 It reiterated its call for Israel to ‘quickly’ join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).5
At the same meeting, the Arab Group, of which Saudi Arabia is a member, emphasised the importance of the TPNW and the active participation of Arab states in its negotiation. The TPNW ‘places nuclear weapons in their logical position as weapons whose possession, use or threat of use conflicts with the most basic rules of international humanitarian law’, it said.6
Recommendations
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Saudi Arabia should urgently adhere to the TPNW. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable component in the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, work with the Treaty's states parties on practical steps towards disarmament, and attend the meetings of states parties as an observer.
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Saudi Arabia should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol (AP) with the IAEA.
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Saudi Arabia should adhere to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).