Saudi Arabia’s King Salman urged world powers Thursday to take a “firmstance” against its arch-rival Iran, as expectations mount that USPresident-elect Joe Biden will seek to revive a 2015 nuclear deal withTehran.
Riyadh appears wary of Biden’s pledge to revisit the nuclear pact betweenmajor powers and Iran, a landmark deal that was negotiated when he servedas vice president under Barack Obama.
The king’s remarks come a day after the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA,warned that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium has risen to more than 12times the limit permitted under the 2015 deal since President Donald Trumpunilaterally withdrew from it.
“The kingdom calls on the international community to take a firm stancetowards the Iranian regime,” the king said in his annual address to theShura Council, the top government advisory body.
“This firm stance must guarantee that the Iranian regime is prevented fromobtaining weapons of mass destruction, the development of its ballisticmissile programme and threatening peace and security,” he added in a speechdelivered in the early hours.
The king did not directly address Biden in his speech.
Trump quit the deal in 2018, launching a “maximum pressure” campaignagainst Iran — including crippling unilateral sanctions — that waswelcomed by the kingdom.
Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran are locked in a decades-oldtussle for supremacy in the Middle East, and are on opposing sides inregional conflicts from Syria to Yemen.
The International Atomic Energy Agency warned on Wednesday that Iran’sexplanations over the presence of nuclear material at an undeclared site inthe country were “not credible.”
While the IAEA has not identified the site in question, diplomatic sourceshave indicated to AFP that it is in the Turquzabad district of Tehran,previously identified by Israel as an alleged site of secret nuclearactivity.
– Threat of arms race –
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Observers warn that Iran’s actions could trigger a nuclear arms race in theMiddle East.
The kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, declared in2018 that if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, “we would follow suit as soon aspossible”.
US intelligence agencies are examining efforts by Saudi Arabia, which hasvast uranium ore reserves, to build up its capacity to produce nuclear fuelthat could help the kingdom develop a bomb, the New York Times reported inAugust.
In his speech, the king also condemned Iran-linked rebels in neighbouringYemen for repeatedly firing on civilians in the kingdom with drones andballistic missiles.
Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition against the rebels in afive-year-old conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people anddriven millions from their homes. The UN has described the conflict as theworld’s worst humanitarian disaster.
King Salman also reiterated his support for a two-state solution to theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict.
He did not address recent normalisation deals between Israel and Saudiallies Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan.
Despite its clandestine links with Israel, Saudi Arabia has refused toofficially recognise the Jewish state without a resolution to thePalestinian issue.
The king’s speech comes just days before the G20 summit, which will behosted virtually by Riyadh on November 21 and 22. – APP/AFP
