"Saudi Arabia is considering acquiring nuclear weapons to match Israel and Iran,” former Saudi intelligence chief Turki Al-Faisal said on Monday

“Saudi Arabia is considering acquiring nuclear weapons to match Israel and Iran,” former Saudi intelligence chief Turki Al-Faisal said on Monday.

Al-Faisal told security forum in Riyadh that "our efforts and those of the world have failed to convince Israel to abandon its weapons of mass destruction, as well as Iran... therefore it is our duty towards our nation and people to consider all possible options, including the possession of these weapons," AFP reported.

"A disaster befalling one of us would affect us all,” he added.

Israel possess hundreds of nuclear missiles and wages deadly wars using destructive and internationally abandoned weapons, while Iran has constantly assured that its nuclear program is a peaceful one and rejects all the Western accusations that it seeks to build an atomic bomb.

Furthermore, Iran is a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty, while Israel is not and had adopted a policy of opacity regarding its nuclear weapons.