Warren Buffett said the possibility of Iran acquiring a bomb would increase the risk of a catastrophic conflict, warning that the proliferation of nuclear weapons was making the world a more dangerous place.
of Berkshire Hathaway He said the increase in the number of nuclear-armed states was fundamentally changing the global risk landscape and amplifying the proliferation concerns he had expressed for decades.
“Now we have… nine countries,” Buffett said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “When we were two, we were very concerned about that. … We weren’t going to deal with unstable people, or anything like that. The ship turned.”
Buffett specifically pointed to rising geopolitical tensions around Iran and North Korea, suggesting that the potential presence of nuclear weapons in these regions significantly increases the risk.
“Think about how you would feel if North Korea got it and Iran wanted to get it,” he said. “In fact, the most dangerous ones are the ones who flip the switch and take their own lives, or who are exposed to great shame. … We don’t know the answer to that, but we do know that … if Iran has a bomb, it’s going to be harder than if they don’t have it.”
The 95-year-old investor has long warned that expanding nuclear capabilities makes the worst-case scenario more likely. Asked what advice he would give to a U.S. president facing the issue of enriched uranium, Buffett sounded fatalistic about the long-term trajectory.
“I think that somehow… within the next 100 years, maybe 200 years, I don’t know, something will happen and it will be used,” he said. “And we can’t accept what’s there now.”
