Will Saudi Arabia Go Nuclear? | Al Jazeera English

"If Iran develops a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit." That was the warning from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman last year. Now, the Kingdom is said to be a few months away from completing its first nuclear reactor and some arms-control experts are alarmed.

Photos have been published showing the reactor site in the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology on the outskirts of Riyadh. Construction is apparently nearly done around a vessel intended to contain atomic fuel.

Saudi Arabia is yet to sign up to an international framework aimed at ensuring atomic programmes are not used to build weapons. But what does all this mean for an already tense and volatile region?

Presenter: Hazem Sika | Guests: Ibrahim Fraihat, Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution at the Doha Institute; Seyed Mostafa Khoshcheshm, Professor of Journalism at the Fars Media Faculty under the Applied Sciences University; Mark Fitzpatrick, Director of the Non-Proliferation Program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies