Saudia to get Nuclear Weapon if Iran gets one first. A historic normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel is “closer,” the de facto ruler of the country said on Wednesday. He also issued a warning that if rival Iran acquires a nuclear weapon first, Saudi Arabia will seek its own.
In an interview with Fox News, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman refuted claims that Saudi Arabia has put a halt to negotiations with Israel under US mediation.
The prince, who is widely regarded as the actual ruler of the kingdom, said, “Every day we get closer.”
But he added that while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government continues to push for contentious settlements in the occupied West Bank, the kingdom wants to see more advancement in protecting Palestinian rights.
“The Palestinian issue is crucial to us. According to snippets of the interview made available by Fox News, he stated, “We need to solve that part.”
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Israel has normalized relations with five Arab countries, but due to Saudi Arabia’s position as the protector of Islam’s two holiest sites, Saudi Arabia’s recognition of Israel is regarded as a historic victory in Middle East diplomacy.
As Saudia to get Nuclear Weapon if Iran gets one first, the Shiite clerical state of Iran is a frequent foe of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab nations.
The crown prince, also known by his initials MBS, warned once more in the interview that Saudi Arabia would look for nuclear weapons if Iran did.
“If they get one, we have to get one,” he declared.
In exchange for normalizing relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia has reportedly asked the United States for security assurances, including a treaty.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, but since former president Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 international agreement to rein in Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, Iran has violated agreed-upon limits on uranium enrichment.
The only nuclear-armed state in the region, albeit an undeclared one, is Israel.
President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about Saudi Arabia during their encounter outside the UN General Assembly.
Tense relations with Netanyahu, who is accused at home by detractors of undermining Israeli democracy through extensive judicial reforms, have derailed the Biden administration’s Middle East diplomatic plans.
Although the US government has long had close ties to the Saudi government, those ties have recently come under fire because of MBS’s alleged involvement in the killing of US resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to US intelligence.
In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel would be a “transformative event.”
“To bring these two countries together in particular would have a powerful effect in stabilizing the region, in integrating the region, in bringing people together, not having them at each other’s throats,” Blinken said.
But he acknowledged it was “hard to get there.”
