As the Israel-Iran war entered its fourth day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning that Iran will pay a very “heavy price” for targeting civilians in Israel, sparking speculation as to whether he was referring to a possible ‘nuclear strike’.
“Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the site of a missile strike on a residential building in the coastal city of Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv.
The fighting intensified on the weekend, with Israel targeting Iran’s Defense Ministry in Tehran. Meanwhile, as per the Israeli government, Iran has launched 370 medium-range ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones, which resulted in the death of 24 people, and have injured nearly 600.
Notably, and worryingly for Israel, Iran has employed its latest and most lethal ballistic missiles. According to local media reports, Iran has used the Emad medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM), which is equipped with a maneuverable re-entry vehicle (MaRV) for improved accuracy and radar evasion, Ghadr (Qadr-110) liquid-fueled MRBM, Kheibar Shekan (MaRV), Haj Qassem, and possibly Fattah-1 and Fattah-2, which Iran projects as hypersonic missiles.
However, what has caught the attention of security analysts is a statement by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commander, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, who has threatened the use of a nuclear bomb against Israel if Tel Aviv launches any nuclear missiles against Iran.
“Pakistan has told us that if Israel uses nuclear missiles, we will also attack it with nuclear weapons,” Major General Rezaei said during an interview on Iranian state television.
He said Pakistan had vowed to “stand behind Iran” and called for Muslim unity against Israel after attacks on Iran. “We may reach a point where we take major actions that will destabilize the entire region.”
Separately, Reza Sayyad, spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces, said that Israeli cities will become “uninhabitable” in the coming days.
“Warnings for you in the coming days: Leave the occupied territories, because, certainly, they won’t be inhabitable in the future!” Reza Sayyad warned.
He cautioned that “taking shelter underground will not bring safety to the Israelis.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan tried to give the Israel-Iran conflict a religious overtone.
Speaking at the National Assembly, Pakistan Defense Minister Khwaja Asif said on June 14 that Muslim nations should now launch an initiative to show unity against Israel. “Israel has targeted Iran, Yemen, and Palestine. If Muslim nations don’t unite now, each will face the same fate,” he said.
He urged the Muslim countries, which have diplomatic ties with Israel, to cut ties immediately and said the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should convene to formulate a joint strategy.
The Long Pedigree Of ‘Islamic Bomb’
Iranian military commanders are threatening Israel with the use of what may be termed an ‘Islamic Bomb.’
Although Pakistan has not officially confirmed making any such promise to Israel, it is noteworthy that the idea of an ‘Islamic Bomb’ has a very long pedigree. In fact, this idea predates the Pakistani nuclear bomb by more than two decades.
The idea behind it is that a nuclear weapon developed by an “Islamic” nation would automatically become the Islamic world’s shared property and shield.
Noted British professor Malcolm M Craig writes in his paper ‘The “Islamic Bomb”: Perceptions of Middle Eastern Nuclear Proliferation, 1979–1989,’ that the idea first emerged from the lips of Pakistani leaders Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Muhammad Zia ul-Haq in the late 1970s. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto served as Pakistan’s Prime Minister, and Zia ul-Haq was Pakistan’s longest-serving military dictator.
However, the idea did not gain much popularity until the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. Incidentally, the idea of an ‘Islamic Bomb’ has always caused great unease in Israel.
On May 17, 1979, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin wrote a short letter to newly installed British leader Margaret Thatcher, warning her of the dangers of ignoring the threat of an ‘Islamic Bomb.’
The letter warned of the awful consequences of a Pakistani nuclear weapon in the hands of Muammar Gaddafi.
Although the letter was rejected as ‘sensationalist,’ in retrospect, many of Begin’s fears did come true.
In 2003, a cargo ship named BBC China was caught carrying gas centrifuges for uranium enrichment to Libya. The vessel was transferring nuclear components for uranium enrichment from Pakistan.
Abdul Qadeer Khan, widely considered the father of the Pakistani nuclear bomb, confessed in 2004 to supplying nuclear technology to Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and the Islamist regime in Iran. AQ Khan was put under house arrest in Pakistan for nuclear proliferation; however, security analysts believe that a lone nuclear scientist could not have smuggled nuclear technology to foreign countries without the active involvement of the Pakistani state.
Thus, the Pakistani nuclear program aided the nuclear programs of fellow Muslim countries in Libya and Iran, circumventing the global safeguards against nuclear proliferation.
Now, the threats by the Iranian commander of using Pakistani nukes against Israel have once again raised the spectre of ‘Islamic Bomb.’
Will Israel Use Nukes Against Iran?
According to the Iranian commander, Major General Rezaei, Pakistan will nuke Israel if Tel Aviv uses nuclear missiles against Iran.
Israel is a covert nuclear power. According to SIPRI, Israel has 90 nuclear warheads. Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu is warning that Iran will pay a very “heavy price” for targeting civilians in Israel.
According to noted defense analyst and Indian Air Force veteran Vijainder K Thakur, Israel could seriously consider the option of using nuclear bombs against Iran.
“Both Trump and Netanyahu are clear that if Iran doesn’t back down, they will use nuclear weapons,” Thakur wrote in a post on the social media site X.
It is worth mentioning that Netanyahu has been looking for an opportunity to attack Iran and its nuclear facilities for a long time. He has consistently opposed any nuclear settlement with Iran, warning that the Islamist regime in Tehran could not be trusted.
However, now that Iran is launching ballistic missiles against Israel, the question is, could Netanyahu use the nuclear option against Iran?
There are suggestions that Israel is deliberately allowing Iranian ballistic missiles to slip through its famed Iron Dome missile defense system and hit its civilian infrastructure so that Tel Aviv could justify the use of extreme force against Iran.
However, any such adventure on the part of Israel must be green-lighted by the USA, which is highly unlikely. Also, any such move by Israel against Iran would embolden Russia to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine to break the stalemate on the battlefield.
Further, the use of nuclear weapons by Israel will force Tel Aviv to accept that it has nuclear weapons. Also, the use of nuclear weapons will further isolate Israel, which is already facing increasing global isolation due to its war in Gaza and allegations of human rights violations.
It can be safely said that the chances of Israel using nuclear weapons against Iran are incredibly slim. However, this nuclear rhetoric from Iran could further add to the dangers of nuclear proliferation in the coming years.
According to the latest SIPRI report, the world is teetering on the edge of a dangerous, new nuclear arms race. The Israel-Iran conflict is further set to intensify this atomic arms race.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
