The Institute for Science and International Security has said that the Saudi government has accelerated research into nuclear programs to counter Iran.

Labelled a nuclear “newcomer”, the Saudi Kingdom is pushing to arm itself with new technologies, Daily Express reported the institute as saying.

The Washington DC-based group wrote since nuclear action was scaled back in Iran, it has increased in the Saudi kingdom.

To prove that its nuclear program its purely peaceful, Iran signed a deal with the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany) in July 2015 according to which Tehran agreed to put some limits on its nuclear activities for a decade.

NA/PA