If Iran has nuke we’ll have one too: Saudi prince

Mohammed Fahd

RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Thursday warned Iran against developing a nuclear weapons capacity, saying that, otherwise, Saudi Arabia would have no choice but to do the same.

“If Iran develops a nuclear bomb, we will have to do so also,” Bin Salman was quoted as saying by Saudi state television.

Using unusually harsh language, he went on to attack Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who he described as “very much like Hitler”.

“The countries of the world didn’t realize how dangerous Hitler was until what happened,” the crown prince said, referring to the outbreak of the World War II. “I don’t want to see the same thing happen in the Middle East,” Bin Salman added.

With regard to Iranian military and economic prowess, the crown prince asserted:

“Iran’s military isn’t one of the Muslim world’s top five militaries, while the Saudi economy is bigger than the Iranian economy.”

He added: “Iran is far from being equal to the Saudi kingdom.”

Riyadh severed relations with Iran in early 2016 after Iranian demonstrators ransacked two Saudi diplomatic missions in the Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad.

Last summer, Saudi Arabia — along with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — collectively severed ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and aligning its policy with that of Shia Iran. (AA)