Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan has warned that Gulf countries could adopt their own security measures in the event that Iran ends up with a nuclear weapon in its hands and called for more guarantees to verify that the Islamic republic’s nuclear program is peaceful, as Tehran claims.
«If Iran gets its hands on a nuclear weapon anything can happen,» he has warned during the World Political Conference in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). «We are in a very dangerous space in the region and regional states can certainly be expected to look at how they can ensure their own security,» he added.
Saudi Arabia is now engaged in a process to restore relations with Iran, its great regional enemy, thanks to the mediation of Iraq. However, the minister declared himself «skeptical» about any expectation to revive the nuclear agreement between Iran and the international community, paralyzed since the United States decided to abandon it unilaterally in 2018.
«We are in favor on the condition that it is a starting point, and not an end point, with a view to an even stronger subsequent agreement,» the Saudi prince said, referring to the numerous requests from Gulf countries, who advocate extending the terms of the pact to, for example, the use of Iranian drones by groups such as Yemen’s Huthi insurgency.
However, the minister explained that «the signs at the moment are not very positive» and called for «more certainty» to verify that Iran’s statements, which has reiterated on numerous occasions that it has no intention of making an atomic weapon, are true. «It would be very comforting to be able to believe that,» he added, in statements reported by ‘Saudi Gazette’.
