Tehran, June 16 (IANS) Hours after a top Iranian military official on Monday claimed that Pakistan has assured launching a nuclear attack against Israel if the latter dropped a nuclear bomb on Iran, a shaken Islamabad termed the news as “fake” which it said has even been carried by the British press.

During an interview on Iranian television, Iranian General Mohsen Rezae claimed that Pakistan has expressed solidarity with Iran and urged the Muslim world to unite against Israel. The remarks were made amid intensifying hostilities between Israel and Iran.

“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.

However, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif refuted the claims in a social media post.

“Our nuclear capability is for the benefit of our people and defence of our country against the hostile designs of our enemies. We do not pursue hegemonic policies against our neighbours which are being amply demonstrated by Israel these days,” Asif posted on X.

Earlier in the day, Asif had urged the global community to confront Israel’s nuclear threat.

“The world should be concerned and cautious about Israel’s nuclear power, as it is a country that is not bound by any international nuclear regulations, nor is it a member of the NPT treaty or any other globally binding agreement,” he said in a post on X.

The Pakistani Minister, while speaking in the National Assembly on Saturday, had vowed to “stand behind Iran” and urged Muslim nations to cut diplomatic ties with Israel.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of ‘Operation Rising Lion’ against Iran, a targetted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat of nuclear weapons to Israel’s very survival. He asserted that the operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove the threat. Tensions in the Middle East escalated further on Saturday as Iran launched a fresh wave of missile attacks on Israel.

–IANS

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