Saudi Arabia on Iran: Israel should be focus nuclear disarmament

Any US strike against Iran's nuclear facilities could have catastrophic consequences, warned Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the US Prince Turki al-Faisal as quoted saying today.

The Chicago Tribune quoted the prince as saying that the Middle East region should be free from Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) through a comprehensive plan which included Iran and Israel.

"Even a single attack against Iran's nuclear facilities will have dark consequences for Saudi Arabia," al-Faisal was further quoted.

It further quoted the prince as saying that a general agreement on nuclear disarmament which included Iran and Israel was the best solution to remove the nuclear threats from the Middle East.

"Our region must be free from WMD including nuclear weapons and we feel that all kinds of WMD should be boycotted whether they be in Israel or in Iran," the paper quoted al-Faisal.

Worth noting that while Iran pursues civil nuclear energy production, and is said by US officials to be many years away from making nuclear weapons development, if Iran ever wanted such weapons, while Israel is widely said to already have a large arsenal of nuclear weapons, and Israel refuses to be a member of nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

As for oil, the prince suggested that US should find new ways for adding to the capacity of its refineries by making investments for manufacturing new refineries abroad. The envoy was further quoted by Chicago Tribune as saying that Riyadh was to heighten its oil production capacity by 12.5 million barrels per day in 2009 through making further investment in its oil industries.