Jordan on Thursday signed a preliminary nuclear cooperation deal with South Korea as part of the kingdom's efforts to meet its growing energy needs.

"The deal paves the way for signing an agreement between the two countries in December," Khaled Tukan, head of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, told the state-run Petra news agency.

"South Korea will help Jordan on issues related to technical assistance, nuclear safety and human resources development."

Jordan, which imports around 95 percent of its energy needs, has already reached nuclear cooperation deals with the United States, China, France, Britain, and hopes to approve similar pacts with Canada, Russia, Romania and the Czech Republic.

In addition to its lack of energy, the kingdom of some six million people is one of the most water-deprived countries in the world, and seeks to use nuclear power to generate electricity and desalinate water.

Jordan hopes nuclear power will meet 30 percent of its energy needs by 2030.

It is the latest Sunni Arab state to announce nuclear plans in the face of Shiite Iran's contested atomic drive, following in the footsteps of Egypt and Arab countries in the Gulf.