SAUDI CROWN PRINCE WARNS: IF IRAN BUILDS A NUCLEAR BOMB, SO WILL WE

Prince Mohammed bin Salman says he does not consider Iran to be Saudi Arabia’s rival nor its equal

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country would obtain a nuclear bomb if Iran developed an atomic weapon.

“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,” he told CBS This Morning cohost Norah O’Donnell in an interview scheduled for broadcast on Sunday’s 60 Minutes.

Prince Mohammed, who had previously compared Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei to Adolf Hitler, said he stands by that statement.

“No doubt,” he said. “Because [Khamanei] wants to expand. He wants to create his own project in the Middle East very much like Hitler, who wanted to expand at the time.

“Many countries around the world and in Europe did not realise how dangerous Hitler was until what happened, happened. I don’t want to see the same events happening in the Middle East.”

The 32-year-old Crown Prince also said that he does not consider Iran to be Saudi Arabia’s rival nor its equal.

“Iran is not a rival to Saudi Arabia. Its army is not among the top five armies in the Muslim world,” he said. “The Saudi economy is larger than the Iranian economy. Iran is far from being equal to Saudi Arabia.”

Saudi Arabia is stepping up plans to develop a nuclear energy capability as part of a reform plan to reduce the economy’s dependence on oil.

The kingdom has previously said it wants nuclear technology only for peaceful uses. The government approved a policy for its atomic energy programme on Tuesday, including limiting all nuclear activities to peaceful purposes, within limits defined by international treaties.

The US, South Korea, Russia, France and China are bidding on a multibillion dollar tender to build Saudi Arabia’s first two nuclear reactors.

Reactors need uranium enriched to about 5 per cent purity but the same technology can also be used to enrich the heavy metal to weapons-grade level. This is at the heart of concerns over nuclear work by Iran, which enriches uranium domestically.