- Iranian general claims Pakistan would launch a nuclear attack on Israel if it nukes Iran.
- The statement was made during an interview on Iranian state television amid escalating regional tensions.
- His remark came amid rising tensions in the Middle East with missiles crisscrossing Iran and Israel.
Pakistan will launch a nuclear attack on Israel if it drops a nuclear bomb on Iran, a top Iranian officer of its elite forces has claimed amid rising tensions in the Middle East. General Mohsen Rezae's remarks came during an interview on Iranian television as a barrage of missiles crisscrossed Iran and Israel. So far, about 248 deaths (Iran 230 and Israel 18) have been reported in the two countries.
"Pakistan has assured us that if Israel uses a nuclear bomb on Iran, they will attack Israel with a nuclear bomb," said Rezaei, a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a member of Iran's National Security Council.
Officials in Pakistan have denied the claim. NDTV could not independently verify the video.
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Israel and Pakistan are among the nine countries that currently possess nuclear weapons, according to ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons).
Pakistan has vowed to "stand behind Iran" and called on the Muslim world to unite, Rezae said, pointing to a bonhomie that follows an ugly missile exchange between the two countries in early 2024. He also claimed that Tehran has hidden capabilities that are yet to be revealed to the world.
There has been no comment from Pakistan on using nuclear weapons against Israel, but the country has backed Iran in its fight against Israel, which has the support of the Western world.
Read: Iran Rejects Truce Talks As Israel Pounds Tehran, Sirens Heard In Tel Aviv
President Donald Trump of the US, which has one of the world's largest nuclear arsenals alongside Russia and China, has claimed that he has been trying to work out a deal between the two warring countries in the Middle East.
In one of his strongest statements since taking over as the President in January, Trump warned Iran yesterday that if it attacks the US, "the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before."
Pakistan, a crucial weapons market for the US, last night flagged concerns over Israel's nuclear prowess, with its defence minister Khwaja Asif saying, "Western world must worry about conflicts being generated by Israel". "It will engulf the whole region and beyond; their patronage of Israel, a rogue state, can have catastrophic consequences," he said in an online post.
