If I was Saudi Arabia the answer would be "Yes!" Why?
Because the U.S. and Europe have demonstrated to Saudi Arabia that it is basically alone in dealing with Iran. Because the U.S. deal nuclear deal is more about not firing nuclear weapons between Russia and the U.S. than it actually is anything to do with Iran at all. The U.S. in avoiding a nuclear war with Russia(and so Iran too which is an ally of Russia) has left Saudi Arabia and the Sunni nations feeling sort of adrift on the ocean so to speak. So, the fact that Saudi Arabia wants nuclear weapons to protect itself from Iran isn't surprising because it can't just expect Israel to protect it with it's nuclear weapons because Israel feels threatened by both ISIS and Iran too. So, mushroom clouds could be coming to the middle east within 5 to 20 years the way this looks right now.
Is Saudi Arabia seeking nuclear weapons from Pakistan?
CNN | - |
(CNN)
A Saudi defense official on Tuesday dismissed as "speculation" a media
report that Saudi Arabia is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons from
Pakistan amid growing fears of a nuclear-armed Iran.
Is Saudi Arabia seeking nuclear weapons from Pakistan?
Story highlights
- Saudi defense official on Sunday Times report: "I don't understand what the story is"
- Report: Saudis have taken "strategic decision" to acquire atomic weapons from Pakistan
(CNN)A
Saudi defense official on Tuesday dismissed as "speculation" a media
report that Saudi Arabia is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons from
Pakistan amid growing fears of a nuclear-armed Iran.
The Sunday Times of London reported
that the Saudis had "taken the 'strategic decision' to acquire
'off-the-shelf' atomic weapons from Pakistan," citing unnamed senior
American officials.
Contacted about the
report by CNN, a Saudi Defense Ministry official said: "I don't
understand what the story is. This has been in the news for 18 years and
will continue to be for the next 15 years."
The official added, "The ministry does not comment on rumors and speculation."
A U.S. State Department official noted Tuesday that Saudi Arabia is a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
"It
has committed never to acquire nuclear weapons, and to apply full
international safeguards to all peaceful nuclear activities," the
official said. "We attach great importance to Saudi Arabia's continued
implementation of these commitments."
The
Sunday Times reported the move by the Saudis -- said by the newspaper
to have been bankrolling much of the Pakistani nuclear program for three
decades -- comes amid concern among Sunni Arab nations over a framework
deal on Iran's nuclear program that aims to limit Tehran's nuclear
program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
The framework deal was
hammered out by world powers and Tehran in talks that ended in early
April. The parties have until the end to June to work out the details
and finalize the plan.
The Obama
administration has stressed that if a final deal is reached with Iran,
the removal of any sanctions will come in phases. President Barack Obama
has backed the deal but faces an uphill battle selling it to a
skeptical Congress.
Although the
discussions involve the so-called P5+1 -- the United States, Russia,
China, France, Germany and Britain -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif did much of the hard
negotiating on the outline deal.
"We
have consulted throughout the recent negotiations with our allies and
partners around the world, including Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf
countries, and will continue to do so as we move into the final weeks
and months of these talks," the State Department official said Tuesday.
Besides
the concern from Sunni nations that the agreement might allow Shiite
powerhouse Iran to develop nuclear weapons, the deal has been met with
fierce opposition from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Envoy: Saudi Arabia will take any steps for security
In a March interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, the Saudi ambassador to the United States would not rule out the possibility of the Saudis creating their own nuclear bomb to counterbalance a nuclear-armed Iran.
"This
is not something we would discuss publicly," Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir
said on "The Situation Room." Later, when pressed, he said, "This is not
something that I can comment on, nor would I comment on."
He
added, "But the kingdom of Saudi Arabia will take whatever measures are
necessary in order to protect its security. There are two things over
which we do not negotiate: our faith and our security."
Al-Jubeir
said, however, the details disclosed by the Obama administration to the
Saudis at that point about the developing nuclear deal with Iran were
"positive."
Christie: Framework nuclear deal 'flimsy'
New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a possible 2016 GOP presidential hopeful,
took a much more critical view of the outline deal in a speech Monday.
"The
framework we've negotiated here seems flimsy, and I have grave concerns
over how we're going to make the Iranians live up to their end of the
bargain and how we can ensure proper, verifiable compliance," said
Christie, laying out a hawkish foreign policy vision.
Christie
also framed capitulating to Iran as potentially causing a domino effect
that could ripple throughout the Middle East: "The deal as structured
will lead to a nuclear Iran and, then, a nuclearized Middle East," he
said.
"That not only threatens Israel,
everybody, it threatens the United States and it turns 70 years of
nuclear deterrence policy on its head."
The U.S. House of Representatives last week approved legislation that allows Congress to review any deal
on Iran's nuclear program negotiated by the Obama administration. The
bill, already passed by the Senate 98-1, now goes to the President for
his signature.
Obama: 'A good deal'
The framework includes the easing of U.S. and U.N. sanctions on Iran if it takes certain steps to curb its nuclear program.
Iran
would reduce its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98% for 15 years
and significantly scale back its number of installed centrifuges,
according to the plan. In exchange, the United States and the European
Union would lift sanctions that have crippled the country's economy.
"It
is a good deal, a deal that meets our core objectives," Obama said
after it was announced April 2. "This framework would cut off every
pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon."
It would include strict verification measures to make sure Iran complies, he said.
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