Saudi Arabia's crown prince warned that if Iran gets a nuke 'we have to get one' too

• Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was interviewed on Fox News.
• He said if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia will need one too.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman warned that if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon his kingdom would have to get one too.

In a rare interview conducted in English with Fox News' Bret Baier on Wednesday, the Saudi ruler addressed the likely consequences of Iran - Saudi Arabia's longtime regional foe - obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"If they get one, we have to get one," the crown prince said, adding that it would be necessary "for security reasons, and for balancing power in the Middle East, but we don't want to see that."

"We are concerned of any country getting a nuclear weapon," he said when asked about Iran. "That's a bad move," he added.

He earlier discussed the potentially cataclysmic consequences of a nuclear strike.

"Even if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, [if] any country uses a nuclear weapon that means they are having a war with the rest of the world," he said. "The world cannot see another Hiroshima. If the world sees 100,000 people dead, that means you are in a war with the rest of the world."

Amid concerns over reports Iran is gearing up its weapons-grade uranium enrichment program, Saudi Arabia's ambitious ruler Crown Prince Mohammed is seeking to play rival superpowers against each other in a bid to obtain nuclear technology, say analysts.

Saudi Arabia has said that it could normalize relations with Israel should the US grant it access to the technology, with the US and Israel considering a civilian uranium enrichment deal for the Saudis if a deal is brokered, The Wall St. Journal reported.

The possible deal could spark a new nuclear arms race in the region, even as the US seeks to get Iran to agree to curtail its program again, non-proliferation experts warned.

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was negotiated by the Obama administration, led to Iran agreeing to limits on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions being lifted. But the deal was scrapped by President Donald Trump in 2018.

President Joe Biden has engaged in faltering attempts to restart the deal. In recent days there have been hints of an easing in tensions between Iran and the US, with five US citizens held as prisoners by Iran freed in exchange for $6 billion seized under sanctions handed over to Tehran and the release of five Iranians jailed in the US.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday that relations with the US could improve if the Biden administration shows it's sincere about wanting to restart the nuclear deal by easing sanctions, The Associated Press reported.