A deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia to equip the kingdom with a civilian nuclear programme has provoked a flood of questions about the risks of nuclear proliferation. "If Riyadh had wanted to just have US backing for a civilian program, it would have done so years ago... the goal is to get US support for a deal that doesn't fully exclude a pathway" to a weapons program, analyst Michael Horowitz wrote, in a post on X. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stressed there are safeguards against proliferation.