Saudis fear Iran nuke threat

By WND Staff

Saudi Arabia fears Iran’s nuclear weapons capacity and believes the desert kingdom is a potential target, according to an editorial in a Saudi daily.

Middle East nations must not be lulled into complacency thinking Iran is building up its arsenal as a deterrent to Israel or the United States, says Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, editor of the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, in an Oct. 8 editorial titled “Yes, We Fear Iran’s Uranium.”

“It would be a mistake to come to the defense of our neighbor Iran out of ignorance and on the pretext of deterring Israel,” he said, according to an excerpt published by the Middle East Media Research Institute in Washington. “The Iranian nuclear danger threatens us, first and foremost, more than it threatens the Israelis and the Americans.”

Al-Rashed said the Iranian weapons program is aimed primarily at Pakistan, “However, the danger encompasses the other neighboring countries as well, such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan.”

He argued Iran’s huge military deficiency in comparison to Israel and the United States makes it unlikely Tehran is trying to attain balance with those countries.

“Yes, it is our duty to fight for Israel’s nuclear disarmament,” he said, “but we must not delude ourselves that Iran, or any other country, is arming itself with nuclear weapons in response to Israel.”

He said the fear is Iran is pushing the region toward one of two tragedies, either igniting the spark of a nuclear-arms race the poverty-stricken region can ill afford, or much worse, “putting these insane weapons to use.”

“Allah be praised, I do not need to persuade many that our region has more than enough insane leaders,” he said. “Saddam sprayed thousands of his citizens with chemicals, wiping them out like vermin.”

Al-Rashed pointed out Arab nations “have used conventional weapons more against each other than against Israel, and this situation will not change tomorrow if we add nuclear bombs to our arsenals.”