What lies behind Saudi Arabia’s Fear of a Nuclear Iran?

The Truth Behind Saudi Arabia’s Fear of a Nuclear Iran
By Hassan Ahmadian – Center for Strategic Research, Tehran – 27 June, 2012

In a recent interview with the Israeli daily, Haaretz, Dennis Ross, a senior advisor to the United States President Barack Obama in Middle East affairs, said that in a visit to Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, in early 2009, he had been told by the Saudi King Abdullah that if Iran becomes a nuclear state, Saudi Arabia will rapidly develop its own nuclear bomb. More reports had been also published as earlier as February 2007, following King Abdullah’s meeting with the then Russian President Vladimir Putin which brought similar quotes from the Saudi king. Although those reports were never officially confirmed, Ross’ remarks prove beyond any doubt that such allegations which are made by Saudi Arabia from time to time should be taken quite seriously. However, a logical question which may preoccupy a Middle East researcher’s mind here is: why Saudi Arabia is not as afraid of Israel’s nuclear arsenal as it is of a nuclear Iran? It is quite clear that Israel developed nuclear weapons when it was considered the archenemy of Arab countries in the Middle East. Three years later, in 1967, Israeli forces occupied vast pieces of land which belonged to their neighboring Arab countries, including two Saudi islands of Sanafir and Tiran. However, Saudi Arabia has never made any effort or even posed any threat about developing nuclear weapons and has never attempted to create nuclear balance with Israel. So, why Saudi Arabia is so fearful of a nuclear Iran? Can King Abdullah’s threat be taken as a serious omen of a looming nuclear race in the Middle East?

Saudi Arabia apparently looks upon Iran from the standpoint of regional rivalries and believes that nuclearization of Iran will be a dangerous turn of events for its regional calculations and relations. “Tension in return for pressure” is perhaps a good interpretation for Saudi Arabia’s anti-Iran moves and policies. In other words, whenever Saudi Arabia comes under mounting domestic, regional and/or international pressures, it tries to escalate tension with the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to distract attention from those pressures. In this way, Riyadh also tries to come up with a framework within which it would be able to cooperate with the source of pressure (both internal and external) by claiming that it is facing an alleged foreign risk (from Iran). Another point is the fact that conflict with the Islamic Republic of Iran can boost a sense of national identity in Saudi Arabia. This issue will be discussed in more detail below. …more