Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir has shunned questions on whether the Kingdom was trying to purchase nuclear weapons from Pakistan, and instead warned of the threats posed by Iran after the latter regained billions of dollars worth of frozen assets as a result of the nuclear deal with the United States and other powers.
In an interview with CNN, Al-Jubeir said he cannot publicly speak about the rumoured Saudi attempt to purchase nuclear weapons but stressed that Saudi Arabia will do whatever measures are necessary to protect its security.
"I am not going to get into details of discussions we have with foreign governments, and certainly not allied governments. I'm sure you understand. I would not discuss these things in a public forum, certainly not on television,'' he told CNN.
"Saudi Arabia is committed to two things. I always say two things, we do not negotiate over our faith and our security. Saudi Arabia will do whatever it takes in order to protect our nation and our people from any harm. And I will leave it at that," Al-Jubeir said.
The remarks came a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned both countries against indulging in trade of nuclear weapons, saying there will be "all kinds of NPT consequences" if Riyadh went ahead with any such plan.
Kerry issued the warning amid media reports that Saudi Arabia is trying to buy nuclear weapons from Pakistan. Top Pakistani leaders have in recent weeks warned Iran of serious consequences if it attacked Saudi Arabia, which many analysts see as a nuclear threat from Islamabad to Tehran.
"I discussed the bilateral relationship with Pakistan, which is a strategic one. We discussed the regional situation. We discussed ways to promote security and stability in the region. We discussed the negative and aggressive Iranian interference and the affairs of the region," Al-Jubeir said.
He said Iran should stop interfering in the affairs of other regional countries, adding that many countries are now concerned over Iran's getting billions of dollars as a result of the deal.
"I think most countries in the world are concerned that Iran will use these funds in order to fund its nefarious activities rather than use them to develop its country and improve the living standards of its people. I hope I'm wrong," he said.
"Iran should cease to support terrorism. Iran should cease to assassinate diplomats and blow up embassies. Iran should cease to support militias whose objective is to destabilise countries in the region. Iran should cease its policy of negative propaganda in the region. Other than that, things should be fine with Iran.''
He then berated Tehran for reportedly harbouring the leadership of Al-Qaeda, including one of Osama bin Laden's sons. He said the country "has been aggressive and has demonstrated no inhibitions in using terrorism."
Al-Jubeir also lashed out at Iran for allegedly providing and recruiting troops in a sectarian war in Syria that has allowed Bashar al-Assad to murder more than 250,000 of his people and to render 12 million of them refugees or displaced persons.
