NEW YORK - Saudi Arabia wants to acquire atomic weapons from Pakistan or its pledge of nuclear cover to counter Iran's "expansionist plans" as the kingdom strengthens its military links with Islamabad, according to an American news agency. "Pakistan has become a front-line state for Sunni Islam and is being positioned by its leaders, particularly in the powerful military and intelligence establishments, as a bulwark against Shiite Iran and its proxies," United Press International (UPI) reported in a dispatch from Dubai. "Increasingly, Pakistan is rushing to the defence of Saudi Arabia, with whom it has a long had discreet security links. It is reported to have put two army divisions on standby for deployment to Saudi Arabia if the kingdom is threatened by Iran or the pro-democracy uprisings sweeping the Arab world," the agency said without specifying its source. "It (Pakistan) is even reported to be prepared to provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear weapons if threatened by Iran. In return, it has been promised Saudi Arabian oil and treasure." "The stakes are enormous," Bruce Riedel, a former CIA counter-terrorism specialist, was quoted as saying. "Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world. It will soon surpass the United Kingdom as the fifth-largest nuclear arsenal. It is the sixth-largest country in the world in terms of population," Riedel wrote in the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel. "It will soon surpass Indonesia as the country with the largest Muslim population." The Saudis have long had close relations with Pakistan and there have been persistent reports that they, and other Persian Gulf states, have funded Islamabad's nuclear arms programme for decades, UPI said. "It is widely held in the Middle East that if Iran does produce nuclear weapons Pakistan will provide the Saudis with weapons from Islamabad's stockpile," the agency said. The Saudis have had close links with AQ Khan, father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb. The Pakistanis insist Khan, a revered national hero in his homeland, was acting on his own. "But it is generally accepted that his 'nuclear supermarket' couldn't have functioned without official approval." the agency said. "Given these connections, including persistent reports that the Saudis helped finance Pakistan's nukes, the kingdom's proximity to Iran, and its concern about the rise of (Shia) transnationalism, KSA is included on most analysts' list of countries likely to consider nuclear arms as a security hedge if Iran acquires them," the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London observed in a 2006 analysis.