The US assessment of nuclear weapons security in Pakistan appears to have changed considerably from confidence to concern, particularly as a result of the introduction of tactical nuclear weapons, the report said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that recent missile attacks demonstrate Iran's capacity to strike globally, posing a threat to Europe and the rest of the world. He highlighted the need for international action to counter Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.
President Trump asserts the US military has decimated Iran's forces and no longer requires assistance from NATO allies to secure the Strait of Hormuz, despite earlier requests for support.
The British government has called for a negotiated solution to prevent further escalation of conflict in the Middle East following joint strikes by the US and Israel on Iran, emphasizing the safety of UK nationals and the need to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) said it struck several targets in Tehran, Shiraz and Ahvaz simultaneously over the past 24 hours, targeting sites linked to Iran's ballistic missile programme, air defence systems and military headquarters.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that India was waging a proxy war against his nation trough terrorism.
Trump also asserted that US forces had struck hundreds of targets across Iran, including facilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and air defence systems.
"Pakistan's jump from an estimated 60 to 110 nuclear weapons is unlikely to shift the balance of power vis a vis India," said Alexander H Rothman and Lawrence J Korb from the Centre for American Progress in their analysis of the recent news reports that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
Warning that the Al Qaeda wants a nuclear weapon not to build a stockpile but to use it, a senior US official has said that the terror group will use only a handful number of operatives to carry out the attack, just as they did during the 9/11 strikes. An Al-Qaeda nuclear attack would be in the planning stages at the same time as several other plots, and only the most senior leadership of the terrorist outfit will know which plot will be approved.
Here are some of the glimpses of the 'Vijay Prahar' exercise.
India has issued an advisory for its citizens in Israel to exercise utmost caution and remain vigilant at all times, following a joint attack by Israel and the US against Iran.
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
The Saudi-Pakistan nuclear weapons cooperation is meant to sound alarm bells in Washington, reminding the Obama administration that its overtures to Iran would have serious negative consequences in terms of its ties with its closest allies in the region, says Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad. Exclusive to Rediff.com
Pakistan's powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani does not support President Asif Ali Zardari's "no-first-use" nuclear policy, according to US diplomatic cables released by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.
The weapons are mostly relatively simple uranium arms with "modest" yields around the size of the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Abbasi was also assertive of Pakistan's nuclear arsenals being safe and secure.
The USS Tripoli, carrying around 3,500 US Marines, has entered the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility, marking the deployment of one of America's largest amphibious assault ships into an active combat theatre in West Asia amid the ongoing conflict.
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Tensions escalate at the UN Security Council as the US and Israel defend their military actions against Iran, while Iran condemns the strikes as war crimes, raising fears of a wider Middle East conflict.
Israel wishes to continue its bombing campaign until Iran's military and industrial infrastructure are degraded to a point where it ceases to pose a threat to Israel. Iran, for its part, has learnt from its experience in the 12-day war of last June. Any ceasefire, it believes, will only be a prelude to another attack on itself. It is determined to convey that any attack on Iran will impose heavy costs on Israel, the US, America's allies in the Gulf -- and on the world at large, points out T T Ram Mohan.
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'No, India and China were not about to go to all-out war over a few rocks of Galwan.' 'The full picture of what went on at the highest level between two heads of State will not be known for a very, very long time and rightly so,' points out Colonel Anil A Athale, former head of the history division, ministry of defence.
Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has claimed that the country's nuclear weapons are very hard targets and can never be attacked by the United States.
India is strengthening the naval component of its nuclear triad with Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi on Tuesday saying that the third indigenous nuclear-powered submarine 'Aridaman' will be commissioned soon and that his force is focusing on boosting its overall combat prowess.
16 days into the war, US forces were already running out of ground-attack missiles and Israel is about to expend its entire Arrow interceptor missiles by end March. To be sure, the Iranians are watching closely and that explains their defiant stance that 'Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its conditions are met', notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Our diplomacy should have been focused on preventing war and avoiding the inevitable disruptions it would cause, posing a real risk to India's growth story,' asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The Dhurandhar movies will undoubtedly shape the minds of the audience much more than news reports, court investigations, books and documentaries. But it is worth remembering that Pakistan's irridentist claims against India's national security have succeeded due to strategic planning, diplomacy, and the unsung heroines and heroes across government agencies, not due to a single maverick leader, points out Shweta Desai.But it is worth to remember that Pakistan's irredentist claims against India's national security have succeeded due to strategic planning, diplomacy, and the unsung heroines and heroes across government agencies -- not a single maverick, points out Shweta Desai.
CIA director George Tenet personally briefed Musharraf that AQ Khan "was betraying Pakistan's nuclear secrets to at least the Libyans and maybe others," prompting an explosive reaction before Khan was placed under years-long house arrest.
'Torpedoes travel at more than 100 kilometres per hour, about 50-60 knots.' 'It must have been a matter of a few minutes before it detonated under the Iranian ship.' 'The Iranian ship would have probably got three, four minutes and wouldn't have known till they actually heard the whirr of the torpedo.'
Trump also said that Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, who had visited the White House last year, credited him for saving millions of lives by stopping the conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
United States President Barack Obama vowed to launch a new diplomatic push to solve the longstanding crisis over Iran's disputed nuclear programme but said he would not let Tehran acquire nuclear weapons at any cost.
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
Asked about the expectations from the US, Azar said Washington and Israel are "completely in sync". He said he felt that the US would "support" Israel's action.
For that to happen America does not have to lose. It only has to do the right thing, asserts Aakar Patel.
Operation Sindoor compelled Pakistan to undertake constitutional amendments, which is an acknowledgement that things did not go well for the neighbouring nation, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has said.
Trump claimed that he "got a call from Prime Minister Modi saying, 'we're done'. I said, 'you're done with what?'" Trump said and claimed Modi replied: "We're not going to go to war."
The United States used an array of weapons in the strikes conducted against Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury on Saturday -- which included artificial intelligence services from Anthropic, according to a report by Reuters.
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The embassy of Iran in India on Wednesday shared a statement made by the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, where he said that they (IAEA) did not have any proof that Iran is going to make nuclear weapons.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances