France, July 22 -- Two agreements -- one on "peaceful nuclear cooperation" and another on "bilateral safeguards" -- were signed by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the US Energy Department said in a statement.

The text of the deals was not immediately made public.

"Together, these two agreements lay the legal foundation for a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership that advances several priority economic and strategic objectives, including nuclear nonproliferation," the department said in a statement.

The deal must be submitted to Congress for review, where lawmakers fear it could trigger new rounds of proliferation and competition in the region.

Crucially, the agreement is...