Saudi raises fears over nuclear arms race

SAUDI ARABIA has reportedly asked the US to help it develop its civilian nuclear programme, prompting fears it may seek to develop a nuclear weapon and accelerate an arms race with Iran.

Officials in the kingdom want US support to enrich uranium and develop their own fuel production system, while Washington is in return seeking a normalisation with Israel, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Saudi Arabia’s economy is highly dependent on oil and it would like to add nuclear to its energy mix. It is also deeply concerned by Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

The conservative country has intensified security ties with Israel in recent years with an eye to confronting Iran and believes there is growing potential for business deals as it tries to move away from oil.

However, it stopped short of signing up to the so-called Abraham Accords – negotiated under Donald Trump – that its Emirati neighbours have joined.

Nuclear talks between the US and Iran have been dormant since protests began in Iran in September.

One possibility under discussion, according to the WSJ, is making Saudi Arabia a major non-nato ally, a special status given to Israel, Qatar, Jordan and other US allies. The move would give Saudi easier access to American weaponry.

Such a deal would be a diplomatic victory for Joe Biden, the US president, as it would accelerate American efforts to create a regional military alliance to counter Iran.

However, the requests will be hard to sell to the US, which wants Riyadh to commit to strict nuclear safeguards as America does not want to go down a road that would lead to it becoming a shield for Saudi Arabia.

Mr Biden could face opposition at home from Republicans and members of his own Democratic Party. Many lawmakers in Congress remain deeply sceptical of Saudi Arabia’s reliability.

“The nuclear issue is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, challenges for Israel, and one Israelis should debate whether it’s worth the price for peace,” Yoel Guzansky, a senior research fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies specialising in Saudiisrael relations, told the WSJ.

In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, its de facto ruler, has indicated that he wants to see significant support among Saudi citizens before he agrees to a deal.

A recent poll by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, showed 5 per cent of Saudis openly supported normalisation with Israel.

In 2018, the crown prince said in a US interview “without a doubt, if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we would follow suit as soon as possible”.