clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

I demand a military nuclear programme from Saudi Arabia

June 23, 2015 at 2:02 pm

I am saying, as clearly as possible, that I want Saudi Arabia to possess nuclear weapons; Egypt and the UAE too. Today, though, I am writing from the Saudi point of view.

I have had direct relations with King Salman for many decades, and he is capable of making an agreement with Pakistan tomorrow to buy nuclear bombs. This is due to the fact that Saudi Arabia financed the Pakistani nuclear programme and has rescued Pakistan’s economy many times over. Of course, it runs the risk of sanctions, but Saudi Arabia is in a position to sanction others, not the other way around. The wheels of the global economy are lubricated with oil and Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of oil in the world.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Second Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, visited Russia recently and met with President Vladimir Putin. We heard that the discussions covered Syria, oil production, shared trade and a nuclear deal. I call for a degree of nuclear cooperation that leads to the production of a nuclear bomb; Israel possesses one and Iran is on its way to doing so. This poses a threat to the life and future of Saudi Arabia as an independent kingdom.

Of course, all nuclear negotiations are meant to be secret, so I have hope that the prince and the president discussed the matter but kept the details quiet.

On the eve of Prince Mohammed’s trip to Moscow, the Washington Post published a cheap article on the matter by Fareed Zakaria, an American of Indian origin. Under the title “Why Saudi Arabia can’t get a nuclear weapon”, Zakaria claimed that Saudi Arabia is behind in maths and science and that it “can dig holes in the ground and pump out oil but little else”; he added that it does not have the people to produce a nuclear bomb.

Many readers responded and rejected his claims, especially with regards to education. He cited the World Economic Forum index, but this ranks Saudi Arabia at 73, Israel at 79, Pakistan at 104 and North Korea isn’t even mentioned. It seems that the fact that Saudi Arabia ranks higher on the index than three nuclear countries did not fit in with Zakaria’s logic, so he disregarded it.

Saudi Arabia could buy a nuclear bomb and have it in its possession within weeks. It could also produce its own in a few years because it is capable of importing the expertise required to operate nuclear reactors, although it may not need to look overseas.

I was surprised that during the ceremony held in Riyadh, attended by NASA officials, marking the 25th anniversary of Prince Sultan Bin Salman’s trip into space, we saw six Saudis, all of whom hold a doctorate in astronomy and that one of them is the cousin of Hisham Hafez’s widow, who, along with his family, are considered my closest friends.

If I, who lived with and know the King and his older sons, and who was in Cape Canaveral when Prince Sultan boarded the Discovery space shuttle in 1985, did not know that these astronomers existed, who is to say that there aren’t Saudi nuclear scientists who we don’t know about?

There are tens of thousands of Saudi students studying abroad year after year being educated in the world’s best universities. These are the people of the future in Saudi Arabia, including Saudi Arabia’s nuclear future.

Riyadh’s modern diplomatic relations with Russia date back to 1992, after the fall of communism. I do not recall the relations suffering from any other crises, even after the revolution in Syria and Saudi Arabia’s support for the opposition, while Russia supports President Bashar Al-Assad. I know that there are negotiations on the matter taking place between the two sides, since Saudi Arabia wants to stop Russia from supporting the Syrian regime. As I am talking about relations between countries and their common interests, I must say that there must be a way to exchange benefits and interests in any future agreement.

I will continue to call for the nuclear programme that I dream of for Saudi Arabia. Prince Mohammed Bin Nawwaf, the Saudi ambassador to Britain, is also a dear old friend of mine and I trust him completely. In an interview with a London magazine a few days ago, he said that if the P5+1 countries’ agreement with Iran regarding its nuclear programme is not clear on stopping its military side, then “all options are on the table” as far as Saudi Arabia is concerned. I believe that he was referring to the nuclear option.

Translated from Quds net, 23 June, 2015.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.