RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA: According to the Kingdom's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia reserves the right to acquire nuclear weapons if Iran, its main regional adversary, cannot be stopped from making one.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir stated in a recent interview to the German DPA News Agency that "Saudi Arabia has made it very clear, that it will do everything it can to protect its people and to protect its territories".

While Tehran had been working covertly since decades to acquire nuclear weapons technology, amidst the mounting international pressure and the weight of economic sanctions, the regime eventually agreed to sign a landmark (and extensively negotiated) Iran Nuclear Deal, or what is more formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015, under the Obama Administration.

This multi-lateral agreement would not only halt the production of a nuclear bomb, but would allow allow international inspectors to observe compliance at any given time, in exchange for easing the economic sanctions on the regime.

In 2018, President Donald Trump controversially withdrew the United States from the JCPOA, nearly bringing it to the brink of failure, as the Trump Administration shared Saudi Arabia's stance for introducing a more far-reaching plan to inhibit Iran's regional influence.

On this matter, al-Jubeir added that "we believe the Iranians have only responded to pressure", and when asked on what could be anticipated from the Biden Administration, the diplomat stated "we will have to see"; as many have speculated that the incoming administration would take a harder line towards Saudi Arabia, and return to the Iran Nuclear Deal.