VIENNA — As the United States and Iran prepare for nuclear negotiations, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan says the single most important factor will be how Iran’s nuclear activities are monitored and enforced going forward.
The foreign minister made his remarks Wednesday at a conference held in Vienna, organized by the Brussels-based think-tank the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Washington and Tehran have announced they reached an agreement to end their conflict and open broader discussions, including on Iran’s nuclear program. A senior U.S. official read the text of a memorandum of understanding aloud but noted that either side could still walk away before a binding agreement is finalized.
Prince Faisal said he had not yet reviewed the final version of the memorandum and declined to comment on its specifics, but offered a broader warning: “The detail will matter.”
Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally and long-standing rival of Iran, has closely watched Iran’s nuclear program for years. Iran maintains its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful.
“It will be most important to see the verification mechanisms that are in place beyond the actual commitments on enrichment, the actual commitment on the removal or downblending of nuclear materials,” Prince Faisal said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has stated his goal of eliminating Iran’s most highly enriched uranium, which sits just one step below weapons-grade material. A senior Iranian official told reporters on Sunday that Iran had agreed in principle to dilute, or downblend, that stockpile.
A major 2015 agreement between Iran and several world powers had placed tight restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. Iran complied with those terms until Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018. Iran then responded by dramatically expanding its nuclear activities well beyond what the agreement had allowed.
That earlier agreement had also given the United Nations nuclear watchdog additional oversight authority, including the ability to conduct surprise inspections at sites that had not been officially declared. Iran revoked those powers as the deal collapsed.
Prince Faisal stressed that a durable monitoring system is essential for restoring confidence globally and across the region. “How we will have a long-term, sustainable verification regime is what will matter the most, and that is what will give the international community but also the regional countries the most confidence and the ability to look towards a better future,” he said.
