Saudi Arabia has reportedly been looking forward to scaling up its ballistic missile program with the help of Chinese technology. With the recent purchases from the Chinese government, Saudi Arabia has geared up to expand its missile infrastructure and technology.
The US government had reports of the said purchases through intelligence, yet the confidential information was not disclosed to the members of the Congress at first by the Trump’s administration. According to the current circumstances, Congress and The White House do not seem to be on the same page. Last month, President Trump approved a sale of 8 billion USD without taking Congress into confidence. He vetoed the measure to block the US support to Saudi-led war in Yemen, although it was already passed by the House and Senate.
While the US state department holds the opinion to make the Middle East, free from the weapons of mass destruction, China states that it has strong strategic relations with Saudi Arabia which also cater the trade of arms. The Chinese ministry added that “Such cooperation does not violate any international laws, nor does it involve the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,”
As per an informal agreement between 35 countries called The 1987 Missile Technology Control Regime, Saudi Arabia is prohibited to buy ballistic missiles from the US. However, the Kingdom is the biggest buyer of US weapons has been dealing with China for its missile requirements since long.
As of now, the US has not been able to assess the ultimate goal of the Kingdom but the latest developments pose the strong potential of the country to become a nuclear nation. The Crown Prince, Muhammad Bin Salman has already stated in an interview that, “Without a doubt, if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible.”
