Miles asked a good question about an observation in “this post”:http://www.totalwonkerr.net/1894/us-uae-123 about the “US-UAE 123 agreement.”:http://www.npec-web.org/us-uae/20090115-UsUae-Revised123Agreement.pdf

I wrote:

The last paragraph of the Agreed Minute apparently makes the agreement a minimum standard for other 123 agreements with countries in the region, should the US negotiate them. Here’s the key part:

the fields of cooperation, terms and conditions accorded by the United States of America to the United Arab Emirates for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy shall be no less favorable in scope and effect than those which may be accorded, from time to time, to any other non-nuclear weapon State in the Middle East in a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement.

Miles asked,

bq. Paul, are you sure you are interpreting the UAE agreed minute correctly? I seem to read it that the UAE can renegotiate should the US conclude a less restrictive agreement with someone else.

Miles is talking about the part of the Agreed Minute which states that, in the event that the US does conclude a more favorable agreement with another regional state, Washington will, at the UAE’s request, consult with the UAE “regarding the possibility of amending” the US-UAE agreement so that its terms will be as favorable as the new agreement.

Anyhow, it is, in my view, reasonable to believe that the Agreed Minute does establish a new standard for future such agreements, unless one thinks that the United States intends to do something to violate the US-UAE agreement.