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Report: Pakistan builds nuclear weapons for Saudi Arabia

BBC report suggests Saudi Arabia invested large sums in Pakistan's nuclear weapons project, and believes it could obtain atomic bomb at will

Ynet

According to the report, it is now possible that the Saudis might be able to deploy such devices more quickly than Iran.

Newsnight's Mark Urban reported that earlier this year, a senior NATO decision maker told him that he had seen intelligence reporting that nuclear weapons made in Pakistan on behalf of Saudi Arabia are now sitting ready for delivery.

He quoted former Israeli Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin as telling a Sweden conference that if Iran got the bomb, "the Saudis will not wait one month. They already paid for the bomb, they will go to Pakistan and bring what they need to bring."

He further noted that "unlike other potential regional threats, the Saudi one is very credible and imminent."

According to the report, Saudi Arabia has sent the Americans numerous signals of its intentions since 2009, when King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia warned visiting US special envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross that if Iran crossed the threshold, "we will get nuclear weapons."

Newsnight further quoted Gary Samore, President Barack Obama's former counter-proliferation adviser, as saying: "I do think that the Saudis believe that they have some understanding with Pakistan that, in extremis, they would have claim to acquire nuclear weapons from Pakistan."

In the late 1980s Saudi Arabia secretly bought dozens of CSS-2 ballistic missiles, considered by many experts too inaccurate for use as conventional weapons, from China and deployed them 20 years ago. Last July, it was reported that Saudi Arabia was aiming these missiles at Israel and Iran.

It has also been clear for many years that Saudi Arabia has given generous financial assistance to Pakistan's defense sector, including, western experts allege, to its missile and nuclear labs, the BBC reported.

Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia dismissed the report as "speculative, mischievous and baseless".