Iranian Media Links US-Saudi Nuclear Deal to 9/11 Attacks, Slamming Washington's 'Double Standards'

Iranian state media and government officials have furiously condemned the newly announced US-Saudi nuclear deal, accusing Washington of hypocrisy by granting atomic capabilities to a nation they directly link to the September 11 attacks.

The hardline newspaper Hamshahari spearheaded the backlash this week, slamming the agreement as a dangerous concession.

The rhetoric out of Tehran reflects a profound regional anxiety over the pact, which grants Riyadh a future option to enrich uranium on its own soil, according to sources familiar with the agreement. Iranian officials argue this lays bare Washington's contradictory foreign policy, effectively green-lighting atomic advancement for a strategic partner while militarily targeting others.

The news came after the United States and Israel launched a major military offensive in February designed to dismantle Iran's nuclear programme. In the messy aftermath of those strikes, which resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the prospect of an empowered Saudi Arabia has sparked fears of a renewed Middle Eastern arms race.

Iran Points to Saudi 9/11 Ties in Nuclear Hypocrisy Attack

Iranian officials have publicly framed the agreement as a justification for their own atomic ambitions.

Ali Zeinivand, a spokesperson for Iran's Interior Ministry, told reporters on Wednesday that Washington has a long history of discrimination regarding nuclear technology.

He noted that if an arms race were to take hold in the region, Iran would naturally have more freedom of action.

The hardline press took an even more aggressive stance. Hamshahari highlighted that 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudi citizens, framing the new pact as a fundamental double standard.

The Kingdom has consistently denied any government involvement in the 2001 attacks. The US government has long maintained that al-Qaeda acted entirely on its own when hijacking commercial aircraft and flying them into the Twin Towers.

Israeli Security Chiefs Raise Alarms Over the US-Saudi Nuclear Deal

The ripple effects of the agreement extend far beyond Tehran. In Israel, officials had anticipated the development and have been working to influence the deal's terms as Donald Trump ties the pact to Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords.

Still, they remain deeply concerned about the specific terms. The most alarming component for Israeli security officials is the potential for Saudi uranium enrichment, an allowance that diverges sharply from previous regional agreements.

Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher and former official at the Israeli National Security Council, said Israel's main concern is not with the energy agreement itself but with the uranium enrichment. A 30-year agreement signed between the United Arab Emirates and Washington in 2009 strictly prohibited uranium enrichment, earning it the moniker of a gold standard.

That standard now threatens to unravel the non-proliferation precedent. A clause in the 2009 Emirati agreement stated that Abu Dhabi could renegotiate its terms if a non-nuclear Middle Eastern state received a better offer from Washington.

Regional observers have pointed to Turkey and Egypt as potential next claimants to the enrichment option, potentially unwinding decades of delicate diplomatic containment across the Arab world.

Before the Kingdom can enrich uranium, a joint American and Saudi team must determine if the process is commercially viable. Any facility would be built by the United States without transferring the sensitive technology required for enrichment, pushing the most consequential decisions onto future administrations.

Washington has now set a geopolitical precedent, even with the stipulation barring Riyadh from developing its own enrichment technology for a decade. The deal recalls Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's warning: if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, Saudi Arabia will follow suit as soon as possible.