New cycle of nuclear weaponisation

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has warned in no uncertain terms that his country would without a doubt develop and acquire nuclear arsenal should Iran acquire one.

The Saudi prince sounded this warning Thursday during a television interview with CBS television ahead of his visit to Washington for talks with President Donald Trump ostensibly on the alleged growing Iranian "menace" in the Middle East.

The prince also likened Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Adolf Hitler, whose conquest of Europe in WWII wreaked havoc with international peace and stability.

No doubt these stern admonitions will fall on open ears of President Trump, who is already signaling his decision to break away from the 2015 accord with Tehran over its nuclear programme.

No doubt, once the genie is out of the bottle and more countries in the region find it necessary to develop or acquire their own nuclear weapons, there is going to be no end to the proliferation of nuclear bombs in the area.

Iran is to blame for such an ominous scenario as it is the second nation after Israel that has set this process in motion. Israel was the first country in the region to have developed nuclear weapons and enjoyed a monopoly over them until other regional powers decided to respond in kind and acquire their own nuclear weapons.

Now, there is no end to this new cycle of nuclear weaponisation of the Middle East, unless the major capitals in the area get together and agree on the terms and accommodations necessary to restore regional stability and peace to the area on the basis of the equitable solution of all the existing conflicts.

There are, simply, too many conflicts in the Middle East without a solution, on the top of which are the Palestinian and Syrian problems. Leaving serious challenges to peace and security for many years without a solution, opens the doors wider for further exacerbations.

This is exactly what has been happening in the region, and now the countries in the Middle East are facing even graver dangers from the advent of nuclear weapons.