A Saudi Nuke?

Do we want Saudi Arabia to get nuclear weapons? 

That’s what will certainly happen if the Obama administration, as now looks increasingly likely, reaches a deal that preserves Iran as a nuclear “breakout” power. 

“Breakout” is a key word. It means that instead of permanently ensuring Tehran never gets a nuke, the goal of the deal would be to keep Tehran a year away from the ability to develop nuclear weapons for at least a decade. 

By that time, of course, President Obama will be long gone. 

But Saudi Arabia has already made clear that it will insist on the right to develop the same nuclear capability awarded Iran. 

As Prince Turki al-Faisal, former head of Saudi intelligence, said recently, Riyadh will “seek to have the same terms in developing our nuclear energy.” 

That spells a Middle East arms race — and a direct path to more nuclear proliferation in the world’s most dangerous and unstable region. 

Even as the Obama administration moves the goalposts on what it is trying to achieve, the International Atomic Energy Agency is reporting that Iran continues to stonewall inspectors, which means no one knows just how close Tehran really is to producing nukes. 

Meanwhile, critics of the deal point out that if Iran went ahead and violated the agreement, by the time we detected its action it would probably be too late. 

This is the ugly reality behind a battle the Obama administration prefers to cast as a personal clash of wills between the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Not that there isn’t a clash. Netanyahu has plainly been a burr under the Obama saddle. But it’s not personality. It’s because he’s complaining about a deal that could allow Iran to destroy his country. 

Make no mistake, though: It’s not just Israel lining up against America on this issue these days. 

Indeed, in its reckless pursuit of a deal with Iran, the Obama administration has managed to unite the Arabs with the Israelis — because both have good reason to fear a nuclear-armed Iran. 

The focus on Netanyahu conveniently disguises the most important fact about the Middle East: Virtually the entire region is united in its understanding that nukes for Iran would be a disaster. 

If the Saudis responded by seeking a nuke to protect themselves, could you really fault them?