By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister on Monday rejected a viral video falsely claiming the country would launch a nuclear attack on Israel if Israel struck Iran with nuclear weapons, calling it “irresponsible and false” amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
The fabricated video, circulating widely on social media since Sunday, alleged that Mohsen Rezaei, an Iranian National Security Council member, said Pakistan had promised nuclear retaliation against Israel in response to an Israeli attack on Iran. Amplified by Indian users and media, the clip was debunked by iVerify Pakistan, which confirmed it was doctored.
Posts from Indian users and media outlets amplified the video, but iVerify Pakistan, a fact-checking platform, determined that it had been doctored and that no such statement was made by the Iranian official.
“There is a video on social media where an Iranian general was quoted as saying: ‘If Israel nuke attacks Iran, then Pakistan will attack [Israel] with nuclear weapons,’” Dar told the Senate. “This is irresponsible and false news.”
He noted that the misinformation had gained traction globally, with even the British tabloid Daily Mail reporting it. “From our side, there has been no such statement. It was fabricated,” he added.
Separately on his X post, the minister said Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state, and its nuclear and missile program is solely for the defense and security of the country. “Pakistan has not issued any statement regarding a nuclear attack on Israel. Such misleading and false information can harm national interests.”
“Irresponsible comments and false news on such sensitive matters not only mislead the public but can also affect Pakistan’s reputation at the international level,” Dar said. “All quarters are advised to exercise caution and rely only on verified information.”
Dar also pointed to other deceptive content fueling confusion, including a fake video of US President Donald Trump urging Pakistan to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict and an old 2011 interview of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being passed off as recent.
“We have checked that it was an AI-generated clip and it was fake,” Dar said of the Trump video, emphasising that the Foreign Office is closely monitoring such material.
“This is not a children’s matter. This is a serious war like ours with India,” he cautioned, underscoring the gravity of the misinformation campaign.
The foreign minister used the opportunity to reaffirm Pakistan’s nuclear policy, unchanged since its first tests in 1998. “Even at that time, we said that it is Pakistan’s stated policy. It is for the purpose of self-defence. It is our deterrence,” Dar said.
He tied the program’s necessity to regional stability, arguing that it countered India’s “spectacle of having hegemony and supremacy over us,” which he said was “buried” amid recent tensions with New Delhi.
Neither Pakistan, India, nor Israel is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Dar noted, but he warned that attacking nuclear installations, regardless of treaty status, would be a “major violation of international law due to the unimaginable consequences.”
Separately, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif issued a sharp rebuke of Israel’s nuclear arsenal and its recent aggression in the Middle East. In a post on X, Asif called on the global community to be “wary and apprehensive about Israel’s nuclear prowess, a country not bound by any international nuclear discipline, nor signatory to NPT or any other binding arrangement.”
Israel is estimated to possess about 90 plutonium-based nuclear warheads, according to the U.S.-based Centre for Nuclear Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, and has produced enough plutonium for 100 to 200 weapons since the late 1960s.
Asif’s warning comes as Israel launched wide-scale air strikes against Iran, which Israeli officials described as part of an operation codenamed “Rising Lion” to thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“We do not pursue hegemonic policies against our neighbours, which are being amply demonstrated by Israel these days,” Asif said, contrasting Pakistan’s defensive stance with Israel’s actions. “Our nuclear capability is for the benefit of our people and defence of our country against the hostile designs of our enemies.”
Despite not signing the NPT, a 1970 accord aimed at curbing nuclear proliferation, Pakistan frequently underscores its adherence to nuclear safety and non-proliferation through other international frameworks, Asif said.
He accused the West of enabling Israel, warning that “their patronage of Israel, a rogue state, can have catastrophic consequences” and urging action to prevent conflicts that could “engulf the whole region and beyond.”
Israel’s nuclear program remains a point of international contention. Multiple United Nations resolutions, including General Assembly
Resolution 41/93, have urged Tel Aviv to renounce its weapons and place its facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency oversight, but Israel maintains a policy of ambiguity.
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