Saudi Arabia will ‘acquire’ nuclear weapons if Iran does so first

“If they get one, we should get one too. » Saudi Arabia will “acquire” nuclear weapons if Iran gets them first, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said this Wednesday in an interview with the American Fox News channel, excerpts from which were published on Wednesday.

“We are concerned that the country may acquire nuclear weapons. This is bad,” said the crown prince, who de facto rules the Saudi kingdom. “They don’t need to have nuclear weapons because they can’t use them,” he added.

The European Union on Sunday called on Iran to reverse its decision to revoke the accreditation of several International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors responsible for monitoring its nuclear program. The Islamic Republic has gradually released its commitments under the 2015 agreement in response to the withdrawal of United States troops ordered by President Donald Trump in 2018. This pact was supposed to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

Agreement to normalize relations with Israel?

In his interview with Fox News, Mohammed bin Salman also spoke of “refining” the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize their relations, which would be a historic event. “We are getting closer every day,” he said as US President Joe Biden met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York.

“For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We must solve this problem,” he said, stressing that “negotiations are going well so far.” He denied press reports about the “suspension” of negotiations with Israel.

“We hope that they will lead to an outcome that will make life easier for the Palestinians and allow Israel to play its role in the Middle East,” bin Salman added. Israel has already normalized relations with four Arab countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.