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What would Saudi Arabia do if Iran acquired nuclear weapons? Many
analysts in Washington and the Middle East assume that in the event of a nuclear breakout by Iran, Saudi Arabia would feel compelled to build or acquire its own nuclear arsenal. Given Saudi Arabia’s vast wealth and strategic weakness, such a decision might seem logical, but that outcome should not be assumed. Saudi Arabia, a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, would face overwhelming technical, legal, and political problems if it sought nuclear weapons, and would antagonize its most important ally and protector, the United States. Lacking the industrial and technological base required to develop nuclear weapons on its own, Saudi Arabia would have to acquire them clandestinely from other countries, a destabilizing course that would position the kingdom as an international outlaw. The Saudis would much prefer an accommodation with Iran and progress toward its long-stated goal of making the entire region a zone free of nuclear weapons.