Marco Rubio Signs Nuclear Cooperation Agreement With Bahrain's Foreign Minister At State Department

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio signs a nuclear cooperation agreement with Bahrain's Foreign Minister at the State Department.

Transcript

00:00Well, let's get our picture.

00:22Hold on.

00:23One, two, three.

00:30Good morning, I'm Anne Ganzer, I'm the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of

00:50Arms Control and Nonproliferation.

00:52And I am delighted to welcome you to this signing of the US Bahrain Nuclear Cooperation

00:58Memorandum of Understanding, or NCMOU.

01:03Developing civil nuclear energy at home and abroad is a major priority for the United States,

01:09as reflected in the four executive orders our president signed this past May.

01:14This NCMOU represents an important step towards deepening a robust civil nuclear partnership

01:21between the United States and Bahrain.

01:24And it builds on our country's already successful collaboration through our foundational infrastructure

01:31for responsible use of small modular reactor technology, or FIRST program.

01:38This NCMOU will enhance our energy security, advance mutual prosperity through the expanded

01:46economic cooperation it will introduce, and advance mutual prosperity, promote the highest

01:51standards of nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation.

01:56I thank you all for joining us this morning, and I now would turn it over to Secretary Rubio

02:01for his remarks, followed by Foreign Minister Al-Zayani.

02:09Thank you very much.

02:10Thank you for all the hard work that went into doing this.

02:11Thank you, Your Excellency, for being here today.

02:13This is an important signing.

02:15It serves as the first step towards a deeper civil nuclear cooperation.

02:20An example that the United States is prepared to be a partner with any nation on Earth that

02:24wants to pursue a civil nuclear program that clearly is not geared towards weaponization

02:30or threatening the security of their neighbors.

02:32And this is no one better to do it with than such a strong partner that we've been working

02:36with for so long.

02:37This only strengthens our relationship.

02:39We're all aware of our partnerships already that are in place, whether it's a free trade

02:43agreement or the Fifth Fleet, obviously the Abraham Accords, the Comprehensive Security

02:52Integration and Prosperity Agreement that, by the way, the United Kingdom is now also joined,

02:56and we're very excited about that.

02:58All of these things bring us closer together, and I think later today, along with our respective

03:02heads of state, we're going to have an opportunity to, or our respective heads of government, we're

03:07going to have an opportunity to have a meeting and lunch over at the White House as well, so

03:10it'll be exciting.

03:11And so this is, you know, I would just say, to brag a little bit, I think U.S. private

03:16sector technology is the best in the world, and the best in the world at helping such

03:21close allies like Bahrain achieve the hopes that they have for their own future, be able

03:26to generate energy.

03:27Energy is key to everything.

03:28You can't, we talk about any industry or any business endeavor, you can't do it without

03:32energy.

03:33And this is an exciting new technology that we hope to be sharing with many of our partners.

03:39And this is among our closest in the world, and so we look forward to collaborating and

03:44building a civil nuclear capacity with you together and through U.S. companies and through

03:50your companies, and we're excited about the opportunity to be here.

03:53Welcome to Washington, and hopefully we'll be seeing each other many, many more times.

03:57Well, we'll see each other later today, and then we'll see each other at many other times

04:00as well.

04:01Thank you so much.

04:03We appreciate it.

04:04Thank you, sir.

04:05If you would allow me.

04:06Thank you, Secretary Rabia, for your warm welcome and for your kind remarks.

04:12I am pleased and honored to be part of the delegation accompanying His Royal Highness Prince Salman

04:19bin Hamid Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

04:26As we return to Washington to further strengthen the already robust strategic partnership between

04:36our two nations, the signing of this MOU on strategic civilian nuclear cooperation further

04:47advances this process, underscoring our shared commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear technology,

04:55technology to benefit our countries and societies.

05:00There is no doubt that cooperation on nuclear technology will be a vital contributor to our

05:08shared responsibility and prosperity in the years ahead.

05:15And we in Bahrain deeply value the chance to benefit from the U.S. world leading technology

05:26and expertise in this field.

05:29Further, signing this MOU reinforces our two countries' determination to prevent the proliferation

05:39of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction as an essential element of regional security.

05:51Under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamid bin Isa Al Khalifa and with the support and

05:58guidance of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the Kingdom of Bahrain stands

06:05shoulder to shoulder with the United States in seeking stability in the Middle East.

06:12And I want to restate our strong appreciation and backing for President Donald Trump's tireless

06:24work towards achieving ceasefires, building confidence, and ultimately achieving a secure region in which

06:36all its peoples can live in peace and prosperity.

06:43This is a strong foundation.

06:51Today's MOU is a further step forward for our two countries, demonstrating once again close

06:55effective cooperation and the values of it.

06:57I look forward to working with you, with you sir, to implement the MOU's provisions and to ensuring

07:08provisions and to ensuring that our countries and peoples can fully benefit from its potential

07:16and opportunities in the years ahead.

07:20Thank you once again, Secretary Rubio.

07:25Mr. Secretary, Foreign Minister, I invite you to sign the NCMOU.

08:04We're going to be working on that issue as we speak.

08:24I just got off the phone with the relevant parties and we're very concerned about it.

08:30Hopefully we'll have some updates later today for you.

08:34We're very concerned about it. We want it to stop.

08:37Thank you for joining.

08:39I'm sorry, we want the fighting to stop because we had a ceasefire overnight.

08:43So we're talking to both sides, all the relevant sides of these, and hopefully we can bring it to the conclusion.

08:48But we're very concerned about it.

08:51Thank you for joining us today. This concludes our ceremony.

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