Clinton said that Iran's behavior on the world stage should raise concerns with countries in the region.

"If you were the leader of a country that's a neighbor, or further away watching as Iran lobs longer-range missiles, watching as they have internal political turmoil so you're not sure exactly who's making decisions, and hearing them say that they are going to go forward with enriching uranium, discovering a secret facility that they never disclosed to anyone, violating their obligations to the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, you've got to ask yourself why are they doing this?" she said in her lengthy reply to the student's question.

She also said: "The world needs to move toward zero nuclear weapons. That is President Obama's stated goal; that one takes time, we know that. But it is important to recognize that in the last 60 year the world has tried to manage the genie of nuclear weapons that got out of the bottle."

The main objective of Clinton's appearance at the private women's college was to emphasize the importance of women's education and empowerment. She spoke of the importance of women's education and lauded an entrepreneurial program between Dar Al-Hekma students and her alma mater, Wellesley College, which gave 100 young Saudi women training in business and leadership.

Clinton quoted the Egyptian poet Hafiz Ibrahim as saying: "A mother is a school. Empower her and you empower a great nation."

She said that in many of the countries she's visited she witnessed a lack of opportunity for women. In Saudi Arabia, she said, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque King Abdullah has given women's education a lot of attention and built the best schools for them.

She also said Saudi enrollment at US universities has returned to pre-9/11 levels.

"I'm very pleased that we are now back to the levels we had before 9/11, but I'm not satisfied," she said, calling for more two-way exchanges, especially with American faculty and students coming to Saudi Arabia.