Amid Irans Threat To Israel, A Look At How Many Nuclear Warheads Pakistan Has
Iran's National Security Council member and IRGC General Mohsen Rezaei recently claimed that Pakistan had assured nuclear retaliation against Israel in the event of a nuclear attack on Iran. The statement was made during a televised interview amid ongoing missile exchanges between Iran and Israel. So far, around 248 deaths have been reported, 230 in Iran and 18 in Israel.
"Pakistan has assured us that if Israel uses a nuclear bomb on Iran, they will retaliate with a nuclear bomb on Israel," Rezaei stated. Pakistan, however, has firmly denied this claim.
This isn't the first time Pakistan's nuclear arsenal has been referenced during a conflict. Over the years, several Pakistani military officials and politicians have cited the country's nuclear capability amid heightened tensions.
Earlier in April 2025, tensions escalated sharply when Pakistan's Minister Hanif Abbasi openly threatened India with nuclear retaliation. He stated that Pakistan's missile systems- Ghori, Shaheen, and Ghaznavi-along with 130 nuclear warheads, are "kept only for India."
Given the frequent references to Pakistan's nuclear capability, here's a closer look at the country's nuclear strength, based on a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal: Estimated to possess 100-120 nuclear weapons.
Delivery Methods: These warheads are designed for delivery via aircraft and land-based missiles.
Storage Protocols: It's widely believed that in peacetime, Pakistan stores warheads separately from their delivery systems.
Official Stance: The Strategic Plans Division (SPD), which controls the arsenal, has not confirmed these arrangements publicly.
Warhead Material: Pakistan's nuclear weapons are believed to use highly enriched uranium (HEU).
Production Facilities: HEU is produced at gas centrifuge facilities located in Kahuta and Gadwal, Punjab.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
an hour ago
- India.com
Hypersonic speeds, advanced techniques and...: How Iran destroyed Israel's famed air defenses Arrow, David's Sling and Iron Dome?
Israel's air defenses have significantly weakened since June 13. (File) Iran-Israel war: Iranian missiles have repeatedly penetrated Israel's multi-layered air defense systems– including the Iron Dome– causing widespread devastation across the Jewish state as the Iran-Israel war entered its eighth day on Friday. But how did Iran manage to breach the famed Israeli air defenses, which includes some of the world's most advanced and sophisticated anti-missile systems like Arrow 1, 2 and 3, the David's Sling, and of course the Iron Dome short-range interceptor? According to defense experts, Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used a combination of methods to enable Iranian missiles to penetrate Israeli air defense systems. Saturation attacks to overwhelm Israeli air defenses When Iran launches a barrage of missiles at Israel, they are accompanied by swarms of low-cost attack drones like Shahed 136, which air primarily aimed to saturate or overwhelm the air defense as it has to engage numerous targets at once. Additionally, Iran does not fire all its aerial projectiles in one go, instead they are launched in waves, making the interception even more difficult for Israeli air defenses. This strategy allows a few advanced missiles to breach the defenses and strike their targets. Israel uses the Iron Dome for short-range interception, David's Sling for medium-range ballistic and cruise missiles, and the Arrow 2 and 3 to intercept more advanced aerial threats such as long-range hypersonic ballistic missiles. However, the country is running out of interceptors due to the sheer volume of projectiles launched by Iran, and may soon have to choose which threat to intercept and which to let through, according to reports. Variety of Iran's aerial projectiles Iranian attacks usually consist a mix of drone swarms flying slower and at lower altitudes, and the much faster ballistic missiles that have a higher flying trajectory, making it difficult for air defense systems to intercept a multitude of targets that have varying flight characteristics and attack trajectories. Additionally, some of Iran's missiles, such as the Haj Qassem and the Sejjil, are capable of reaching hypersonic speeds of above Mach 5, and follow a high-flight trajectory before rapid reentry into the atmosphere, leaving little for Israeli air defenses to engage and intercept the threat. Iran also launched its Fattah-1 hypersonic missile at Israel which reportedly travels at Mach 15 speeds, making it almost impossible for any air defense system to intercept. Maneuvering techniques and spoofing According to reports, Iran has also employed advanced spoofing methods and guidance techniques to guide their missiles, which allegedly Israeli air defenses, causing them to target each other's interceptor missiles instead of the incoming threat. While the IRGC has not disclosed the details of this purported 'spoofing' technique, experts believe that the Iranians have likely found a way to exploit the target acquisition and engagement logic of Israel's interceptors. Additionally, reports suggest that some advanced Iranian missiles employ employ maneuverable re-entry vehicles (MaRV) or release decoys, which makes tracking their trajectories almost impossible, and further complicates interception. Interceptions cost Israel $285 million per night As per defense experts, Israel is forced to spend around $285 million (approximately 1 billion shekels) to stop Iranian missile and drone attacks each night, with a single Arrow 3 interceptor missile costing a whopping $3 million. Israel will likely run out of interceptor missiles with less than two weeks time and will not be able to stop Iranian aerial threats if immediate military resupplies are not received from the United States (US), they say. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Israel is running out of interceptors to intercept short-range missiles, and at the current rate, its ability to intercept and neutralize short-range ballistic missiles (SRMs) could last for around 10-12 days at best. Citing US officials, the report said that Israel may soon have to choose which missile to intercept and which one to let through if Iran continues its ballistic missile attack at the current pace. As per the report, Iran has fired more than 400 ballistic missiles towards Israel since June 13 after Israel sparked the ongoing Iran-Israel war when it conducted deadly airstrikes deep inside the Islamic Republic under Operation Rising Lion.
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
Ex-RAW boss AS Dulat praises Asim Munir meet with Trump, says meet PM Modi next
London [UK], June 20 (ANI): Amarjit Singh Dulat, Former Chief of India's premier intelligence agency- the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)- has praised Pakistan's COAS Asim Munir for his meeting with US President Donald Trump and has called for Munir to come to India and meet PM Modi to thaw ties. Dulat made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Geo News at King's College, during a discussion on his newly published book The Chief Minister and the Spy. Dulat recalled how Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Pakistan to attend the wedding of Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif's granddaughter, and said that Pakistan must also try their hand at thawing the frozen ties, reported The News International quoting the interview with Geo. Dulat said: 'I congratulate Field Marshal Asim Munir. Congratulations to the people of Pakistan. He should now come and meet Modi Ji in Hyderabad House and then may visit Amritsar. I believe that hardlines can be softened. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Pakistan to attend the wedding of Nawaz Sharif's granddaughter. Things can and should improve. Someone needs to bowl first. Imran Khan is in jail. The Field Marshal or Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif can do that.' Dulat agreed that relations are frozen between India and Pakistan, especially after the recent conflict but he was hopeful of a change, saying that if the meeting between Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir and US President Donald Trump can take place, so even he could visit Delhi, as reported by Geo News. 'Look at the Field Marshal's lunch in the US. Whoever arranged it, send him to Delhi too. If it can happen in Washington, why not in Delhi,' he told Geo News He said that the Field Marshal's luncheon at the Cabinet Room and the Oval visit, lasting over two hours, was a major development in the US-Pakistan relations. He said, 'This has happened for the first time. It's good and huge for Pakistan. I congratulate Pakistan but don't stop there, come to India too.' Dulat told Geo News that India has good relations with the US. He said, 'Pakistan has always progressed in these relations, that's why the Field Marshal is there.' The former RAW chief advised both countries to talk directly to each other. He said there should be no war between India and Pakistan. 'It's good that the recent conflict lasted for only four days.' He also praised Pakistan's hospitality. 'I am the only intelligence chief who visited Pakistan four times after retirement. Between 2010-2012 I visited four times. Pakistani hospitality cannot be matched. We cannot match it. I enjoyed it a lot,' he said to Geo News. Dulat spoke about his friendship with former ISI chief General Asad Durrani and described him as a great friend. Munir, during the meeting, lauded Trump for his 'constructive and result-oriented role' in facilitating a ceasefire with India following last month's armed conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. India conducted Operation Sindoor on May 7 following April 22 Pahalgam terror attacks where 26 tourists were killed. The Operation was focused strikes on terrorists and terrorist infrastructure at nine sites in Pakistan and PoJK. It was India's 'measured, non-escalatory' action. (ANI)
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Trump-Munir meet embarrassing for Pak, its PM wasn't invited: Defence Secretary
Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir was an embarrassment for Islamabad as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was not invited to the meeting with Trump marked a rare instance where a country's military chief was exclusively invited by a sitting US President. The meeting also signified the fact that the Pakistani military call the shots in the neighbouring country. advertisement"I don't have a great opinion on this (Trump-Munir meeting). It is surprising to me. It must be an embarrassment to any country that the military chief gets invited and the prime minister is nowhere to be seen. It's a very strange thing," he told news agency ANI in a podcast. Wednesday's meeting between Trump and Munir featured Lt Gen Asim Malik, who also serves as Pakistan's national security advisor, and no other leader from the civilian government was present. This was the first such meeting between a high-ranking Pakistani military chief and a sitting US President since India's Operation to the White House, Trump hosted Munir after he backed the US President to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for preventing what could have become a nuclear war between India and Trump has claimed several times that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, New Delhi has maintained that the Director General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries agreed to an understanding ceasing all military hostilities and no third party was involved in before the Trump-Munir meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a 35-minute phone call with Trump to firmly clarify that the ceasefire following the May 7-10 military standoff had been achieved through direct communication between the Indian and Pakistani militaries - not through any external Singh said, "I have always found it strange that this gentleman sits on something called an investment facilitation council in Pakistan, which takes economic decisions. It's a weird, structurally imbalanced state where the military essentially has first claim on resources."The Defence Secretary underlined that India should continue to establish some level of deterrence towards between the arch-rivals nosedived following the Pahalgam terror attack, India's diplomatic measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, and the four-day conflict between the nuclear-armed Delhi has made it clear that terror and talks cannot go together and has repeatedly flagged Islamabad's support for terror outfits operating on its soil and launching cross-border Watch IN THIS STORY#Donald Trump#Pakistan#India-Pakistan
