Saudi Arabia is been interested in acquiring nuclear weapons. They fear that if their archenemy Iran acquires nuclear weapons, the Saudis will be at a severe strategic disadvantage. The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington D.C.-based organization that monitors global proliferation issues has just issued a new report about Saudi nuclear ambitions.
Even though the recently international agreement with Iran was intended to preclude the manufacture of nuclear weapons by Iran, Saudi Arabia's concerns increased as the Iranian sophisticated nuclear power program proceeds. According to the report "Saudi Arabia is in the early stages of nuclear development and is expected to more actively seek nuclear weapons capabilities" to counter the perceived threat of Iranian nuclear weapons.
The United States hoped that the Iranian nuclear deal would ease tensions in the Middle East. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case. Iran continues to harass the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf and support terrorism in other countries.
Saudi Arabia has plans to construct sixteen nuclear power reactors. The Iran nuclear deal has reduced pressure on Saudi Arabia to develop their own nuclear arsenal in the near future. However, as the date of the end of the Iranian nuclear deal approaches, Saudi may feel the need to move forward on nuclear weapons development.
The reports says "There is little reason to doubt that Saudi Arabia will more actively seek nuclear weapons capabilities, motivated by its concerns about the ending of the [nuclear deal's] major nuclear limitations starting after year 10 of the deal or sooner if the deal fails. If Iran expands its enrichment capabilities, as it states it will do, Tehran will reduce nuclear breakout times, or the time needed to produce enough weapon-grade uranium for a nuclear weapon, to weeks and then days. With these concerns, the Kingdom is likely to seek nuclear weapons capabilities as a hedge."
Since at least 2014, Saudi Arabia has been working on acquiring all the technical expertise and equipment necessary to develop and control their own nuclear fuel cycle. Ostensibly dedicated to their civilian nuclear power program, the same technology and equipment can be repurposed to develop nuclear weapons.
"At this point in time and at its current pace of nuclear development, Saudi Arabia would require years to create the nuclear infrastructure needed to launch a nuclear weapons effort," the report says. The authors of the report add that "the intention to achieve such a capability seems clear."
Saudi Arabia has been teaming up with other nations such as Russia, China and South Korea for assistance in developing its nuclear capabilities. They are also creating research programs for nuclear technology and developing educational programs to train their own nuclear engineers and scientists.
The report continues "Saudi Arabia appears genuinely committed to importing many nuclear reactors and has pursued numerous cooperation agreements with other countries. However, Saudi Arabia appears on a trajectory to create domestic appendages that could provide a nuclear weapons capability, even if for some time these capabilities would likely be under international safeguards."
