Democratic Senators Edward Markey and Jeff Merkley led colleagues in demanding the Trump administration abandon a proposed civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, citing the deal's failure to meet the "Gold Standard" and classified U.S. intelligence indicating Saudi Arabia has not ruled out developing nuclear weapons.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, rejected a UN atomic agency resolution criticizing Pyongyang's nuclear program, calling the country's nuclear-armed status 'absolute' and 'irreversible.' North Korea accused the IAEA of double standards and cited US-led military buildup as justification for expanding its nuclear arsenal.
IAEA reports North Korea has constructed a new two-story uranium enrichment facility at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex that could house up to 28 centrifuge cascades, and started operating an expanded annex at Kangson enrichment site.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the newly signed civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia would take effect only if the kingdom joined the Abraham Accords and normalized relations with Israel, a step Riyadh has said it will not take without a clear pathway to Palestinian statehood. Trump also said there would be no uranium enrichment, although that statement appeared to contradict descriptions of the signed agreement, which allows enrichment and includes a two-year feasibility study.
Russia and China openly supported North Korea at a UN Security Council meeting on nonproliferation, with UN officials warning that DPRK's continued nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development remains a serious concern. Evidence shows vessels loading North Korean coal and iron ore at ports for export to destinations including China.
At the White House state dinner, President Trump claimed King Charles III shares his position on Iran's nuclear program, saying "Charles agrees with me even more than I do, we're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon", drawing the traditionally apolitical monarch into a live diplomatic controversy.
Warren Buffett, who has long warned about the dangers of nuclear weapons proliferation, said on CNBC's Squawk Box that Iran acquiring nuclear weapons would significantly raise the risk of nuclear conflict, identifying unstable leaders facing personal or political pressure as the greatest danger and predicting nuclear weapons will likely be used within the next 100 to 200 years.
An analysis of June 2025 satellite imagery published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and Le Monde indicates Iran likely moved up to 540 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to an underground complex at Isfahan in the days before US and Israeli military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
