(CNN) Saudi Arabia will develop nuclear weapons if Iran does the same, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi's defense chief and heir to the throne, said Thursday.

"Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible," he said in an interview with CBS News

The international community has long been concerned that Iran's development of nuclear weapons could spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, a key factor in the decision to reach a diplomatic settlement with Tehran over its nuclear program in 2015.

The Crown Prince also doubled down on his comparison of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to Adolf Hitler in the interview, saying the two both had dangerous expansionist goals.

"He (Khamenei) wants to create his own project in the Middle East very much like Hitler who wanted to expand at the time. Many countries around the world and in Europe did not realize how dangerous Hitler was until what happened, happened. I don't want to see the same events happening in the Middle East," Salman said.

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