🕵️♂️ Fact Check: Did Pakistan pledge to nuke Israel to defend Iran?
IRGC General Mohsen Rezaee has been attributed to have said Pakistan will nuke Israel if Israel attacked Iran with nuclear weapons.
🔶 Claim:
A senior commander from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), General Mohsen Rezaee, claimed that Pakistan would launch a nuclear retaliation against Israel if Israel used nuclear weapons against Iran.
🔎 The Context:
The statement was made in the context of heightened regional tensions following Israeli airstrikes on Iranian interests.
The IRGC commander’s quote, widely shared on social media, amplified by some Iranian and Indian outlets in a provocative tone, and even picked up by the British tabloid Daily Mail, implied a nuclear solidarity pact between Pakistan and Iran.
✅ Fact:
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Pakistan, Ishaq Dar addressed this claim during a Senate session, labeling the video circulating online as “fake, fabricated” and likely AI-generated. He confirmed no such statement was made and emphasized Pakistan’s responsible, defensive nuclear posture.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also publicly rejected the claim, stating that no such commitment exists between Islamabad and Tehran. Asif emphasized that Pakistan’s nuclear policy remains defensive and based on deterrence, and that its strategic decisions are made independently and in accordance with national interest, not external provocations.
🧾 Historical Context:
Pakistan and Iran maintain complex, often pragmatic relations but do not have a formal military alliance.
Pakistan has consistently maintained a policy of minimum credible deterrence and non-proliferation, though not a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and Pakistani scientists like Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan have previously been accused of trying to help Iran in gaining the nuclear technology. The charge sheet of Pakistani scientists meeting Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda leadership in Afghanistan was even featured in the Netflix documentary, American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden.
📊 Verdict:
❌ False & Misleading
Pakistan has not pledged to use nuclear weapons in defense of Iran. The claim is unsubstantiated, and officially denied by the Government of Pakistan.