Bush Signs Nuclear Deal with United Arab Emirates 1-15-2009

WASHINGTON, Jan 15 - With just five days left in office, the Bush administration signed a nuclear deal with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday despite concerns in Congress the UAE is not doing enough to curb Iran's atomic plans.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States signed an agreement Thursday on civil nuclear cooperation with the United Arab Emirates.

Calling the agreement "a powerful and timely model for the world and the region," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed the deal, along with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed.

"We applaud the UAE's commission -- commitment to the highest standards of safety, security and nonproliferation in its pursuit of nuclear power," Rice said.

Congress has to ratify the agreement before it can take effect, and congressional critics fear it could spark an arms race and proliferation in the region. The UAE's ties to Iran also have caused concern.

Under the "1-2-3 deal," similar to one the United States signed last year with India, Washington would share nuclear technology, expertise and fuel. In exchange, the UAE commits to abide by the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards

The small oil-rich Gulf nation promises not to enrich uranium or to reprocess spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs.

The deal is part of a major UAE investment in nuclear energy. It has already signed deals to build several nuclear power plants.

"We are a country that is very rich in its oil and gas, but we do look forward that we have a program, a nuclear, peaceful program that could sustain our future needs," said bin Zayed.

Rice said she hoped existing work by U.S. companies on the UAE nuclear program would be expanded under the agreement.

"We believe our technology is the best in the world, and we hope that the UAE will give that technology strong consideration," she said.

The United States has stressed its role in global nonproliferation initiatives and has donated $10 million to establish an International Atomic Energy Agency international fuel bank.

The U.S. has held up the UAE's development of nuclear energy in stark contrast to Iran, which is suspected of enriching uranium for a nuclear bomb.

Rep. Howard Berman, a Democrat from California, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the safeguards in the agreement "encouraging" but voiced concerns that Iran could take advantage of the agreement.

"This could be a significant advance in nonproliferation policy, and a model for future nuclear cooperation agreements," Berman said in a statement.

"However, I and many other members of Congress place a very high priority on the international effort to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability and will be analyzing this and any other nuclear cooperation agreement in the context of how it implicates the attainment of that goal."

Iran is the among the UAE's largest trading partners. In the past, the port city of Dubai, one of the UAE's seven emirates, has been used as a transit point for sensitive technology bound for Iran.

Dubai was also one of the major hubs for the nuclear trafficking network run by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan. But U.S. officials said the UAE has taken major steps to improve export controls and prevent money laundering.

Still, such ties contributed to stiff opposition in Congress to the failed deal for Dubai Ports World to manage U.S. ports.

The U.S. already has similar agreements with Egypt and Morrocco, and U.S. officials said Washington is working on similar pacts with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan.

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[martysoffice]

The proposed deal with the United Arab Emirates has attracted attention because the U.A.E.'s largest trading partner is Iran. The U.A.E. has served in the past as a transshipment point for technology with military applications headed to Iran.

[martysoffice]

Bush is a "front man" for the Saudi's.... and here comes Obama!

[SonoftheRepublic1776]

Christ, Bush! Cut your losses! Just pardon Ramos and Compean and get out before you screw more things up. Seriously, what the Hell is this?

[mitenpat]

Are you trying to screw America?

[60microphonemajesty]

Who has the best nuclear weapons? No one knows really and if they do know they are not allowed to leak such info which is state secrets due to that country.However if they do leak that type of info they'll eventually be killed bc thats like treason

[userstealth]

Use that talent to pray the LORD. Accept his only son JESUS CHRIST. AND LIVE "richly" and in REAL PEACE. Like the mighty nation of USA peacf on earth with fair laws. Jesus came to the worl for you, me, the arabs, the muslim, the jewish, the african, the indian, the asian, the latin......

[DSSNTC]

@Rebel7foreva they are using Saudie arabians engineers to run these plants....apparently, the UN nuclear programs has trained Saudi arabian Nuclear engineers in South Korea to get all the required knowledge. which is paid for by saudi arabia by the way.

[mastainventa]

1 word Chernobyl

[Rebel7foreva]

I speak for all engineers, if this deal comes thru it's a boon for the Americans during this time of recession since ..UAE lacks trained locals in nuclear engineering...that means to manage and run a plant for the next 10-20 years..we need people with high expertise. Moreover, the deal specifically says..UAE can only import and in no way produce for military purposes/ enrichment of plutonium.

[rokercater]

Whats wrong with Iran?? they already built and are more successful.. wake UPPPPPPP

[DarthCormac]

The argument "They have enough oil," is misleading because oil must be REFINED in order to be used in automobiles, home heating, etc. Refining is chemical distillation; without it, the oil is USELESS. You don't just dig it out of the ground and stick it in your car. Any country may be sitting on ten trillion barrels of oil, but if it can't refine it, IT CAN'T USE IT.

So the "They have tons of oil" argument is a crock of shit that only shows the author can't grasp elementary chemistry.

[DarthCormac]

Too bad, you missed the train. Obama just signed off on it. Yup, he SUPPORTS it. And even the people who oppose it in Congress admit they don't have the votes to block it. Google news search for "UAE Nuclear" if you don't believe me.

And please don't make an ass of yourself by responding with statements like: "They can make nuclear weapons from it"; "They have enough oil, why do they need nuclear?"

Both statements show only your incredible stupidity in technical and scientific matters.