Asked if the Kingdom was prepared to seek a nuclear option, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that Iran’s foreign minister was spreading disinformation when he suggested that Saudi Arabia was against the nuclear accord. 

“The position of my government is that we will support any deal that prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear capability, that has a robust and continuous inspection regime and that has snapback provisions,” said Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir. “We were assured by President Obama that this was in fact the case and as a consequence we supported the deal. The concern that we have is what Iran will do with the windfall in terms of additional revenue it generates as a result of the lifting some of the sanctions. Our concern is that will be used to support terrorism and to spread instability in the region. Our concern is that it will not be used to develop the country and improve the lot of the Iranian people who desperately need to develop their country.”

Pressed again on the question of whether or not Saudi Arabia will seek its own nuclear capability, the foreign minister reiterated these matters are not for discussion in a public forum and said, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to two things; I always say two things we will not negotiate over, our faith and our security. Saudi Arabia will do whatever it takes in order to protect our nation and our people from any harm and I will leave it at that.”

Asked about whether he discussed the nuclear portfolio during his recent trip to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir replied, “I discussed the bilateral relationship with Pakistan which is a strategic one. We discussed the regional situation. We discussed ways to promote security and stability in the region, and we discussed the negative and aggressive Iranian interference in the affairs of the region.”

He added that he would not get into the specifics of discussions with allied governments.

Asked if he had lost confidence in the United States, the Foreign Minister replied, “We don’t have confidence in Iran. We have confidence in the United States.”

He said that if Iran wants to restore relations with Saudi Arabia it must simply stop interfering in the affairs of other nations, end all support for terrorism and cease its practice of assassinating diplomats and blowing up embassies. Iran also needs to end support for militias that destabilize nations in the region and end its negative propaganda.

He stressed Saudi Arabia is not alone in its concerns, suggesting that most nations are worried about how Iran will spend the funds it receives from the lifting of sanctions. He remarked that he hopes he is proven wrong about the expectation Iran will continue to finance its nefarious activities.

Blitzer drew attention to the plot to assassinate Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir during his tenure as Ambassador to Washington. Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir said his concerns about Iranian activities are not personal and cited Iran’s long record of direct support for terrorism. 

Asked about the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir stressed he was a terrorist, plain and simple. He encouraged, funded and equipped terrorists and was responsible for the death of Saudi security personal He was tried for his crimes, convicted under due process and executed. 

The Foreign Minister said the Saudi judicial system must be respected, and suggested that if the United States had bombed and killed 47 ISIS members, including those who had decapitated and killed the Americans in a single day people would be cheering in the streets.

Turning to the downturn in oil prices, Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir explained that the market price for oil is not determined by Saudi Arabia, but is set by the law of supply and demand. A number of producers were overproducing and Saudi Arabia refused cut production to support high price producers because it would have only set the stage for greater economic turmoil. He stressed it is folly to attempt to manipulate markets. While there is a lot of speculation and theorizing why the markets are behaving as they are, in reality it is only a matter of fundamental economics.

He was dismissive of the suggestion that Saudi Arabia was using oil policy to achieve strategic objectives, saying, “It reminds me of the conspiracy theories we have in the Middle East. In the Middle East the conspiracy theories have to do what the great powers are doing. In the West, the conspiracy theories have to do what the oil powers are doing.”