Crown Prince: If Iran builds nuclear weapons, so will we

Saudi Arabia will develop nuclear weapons if its arch-rival Iran does, the kingdom’s Crown Prince said in remarks released yesterday, raising the prospect of a nuclear arms race in a region already riven with conflict.

“Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible,” Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS in an interview that will air in full on Monday.

The Sunni Muslim kingdom has been at loggerheads with revolutionary Shia Iran for decades. The countries have fought a long-running proxy war in the Middle East and beyond, backing rival sides in armed conflicts and political crises including in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

He downplayed Iran’s power during the interview, saying that Iran was far from being a rival to Saudi Arabia.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi reacted harshly, saying the Saudi Crown Prince was a “delusional naive person” who has no idea of politics, Iranian state TV reported. “He has no idea of politics apart from bitter talk that emanates from a lack of foresight . . . His remarks do not deserve a response, because he is a delusional, naive person, who never talks, but with lies and bitterness,” Qasemi said.

The Crown Prince, who is also Defence Minister, said last year that the kingdom would make sure any future struggle between the two countries “is waged in Iran”, prompting Iranian threats to hit back at most of Saudi Arabia except the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Riyadh has criticised the 2015 deal between world powers and Tehran under which economic sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for the Islamic Republic curbing its nuclear energy programme.

A French judge, meanwhile, has issued an international arrest warrant for Princess Hassa bint Salman, the Crown Prince’s sister, in relation to an attack by her bodyguard against a worker in her Parisian flat, a source close to the investigation said.

She is wanted for questioning related to armed violence, kidnapping, theft and death threats that a member of her security team is accused of, the source said.