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WASHINGTON – When President Barack Obama began making the case for a deal with Iran that would delay its ability to assemble an atomic weapon, his first argument was that a nuclear-armed Iran would set off a “free-for-all” of proliferation in the Arab world.

“It is almost certain that other players in the region would feel it necessary to get their own nuclear weapons,” he said in 2012.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states tell Obama they will increase their own nuclear capabilities if Iran deal passes Back to video

Now, as he gathered Arab leaders over dinner at the White House on Wednesday and prepared to meet with them at Camp David on Thursday, he faced a perverse consequence: Saudi Arabia and many of the smaller Arab states are vowing to match whatever nuclear enrichment capability Iran is permitted to retain.

“We can’t sit back and be nowhere as Iran is allowed to retain much of its capability and amass its research,” one of the Arab leaders preparing to meet Obama said Monday, declining to be named until he made his case directly to the president.