Some countries are thinking about creating nuclear bombs after what has happened in North Africa and the Middle East, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

"I remember when I was informally [communicating] with the leaders of Arab countries within the framework of the League of Arab States I was delicately told: You know, we have been receiving information that someone has been working, and anything can happen in the region. Colleagues from Saudi Arabia told us they would also think about it, given the circumstances," Medvedev said, Interfax reported.

Many countries "are seriously thinking" about creating their own nuclear bomb "after a series of events, including those in North Africa, the Middle East," he said.

"The provoking of the creation of nuclear weapons" is a serious danger, the Russian prime minister said.

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon also said Persian Gulf Arab states are seeking nuclear weapons to counter Iran and have held clandestine meetings with Israel despite not having official ties with Tel Aviv, RT reported.

"We see signs that countries in the Arab world are preparing to acquire nuclear weapons," Ya'alon told fellow defense ministers at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Ya’alon did not name specific countries which might be interested in developing nuclear weapons and gave no evidence to back up his claims.

However, he then made a surprise statement that the Persian Gulf Arab states – officially hostile to Tel Aviv because of its occupation of the West Bank – had held clandestine meetings with Israel.

“Not only Jordan and Egypt,” he said, referring to the only Arab countries who signed peace treaties with Israel after three Arab-Israeli wars. 

Israel is widely believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads.