Nine countries currently either say they have nuclear weapons or are believed to possess them. The first to have nuclear arms were the five original nuclear weapons states — the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom.

Amid the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, Pakistan, which faced defeat by India during Operation Sindoor, has made its entry and again reiterated its old threat of nuclear weapons. Iran's National Security Council member and IRGC General Mohsen Rezaei recently stated that Islamabad had assured Iran that it would launch nuclear retaliation against Israel if the Middle Eastern country were attacked by a nuclear weapon.

ISLAMABAD: In response to the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, Pakistan has initiated the evacuation of diplomats' families and non-essential embassy personnel from Iran, a

"Pakistan has told us that if Israel uses a nuclear bomb on Iran, then Pakistan will also attack Israel with a nuclear bomb," General Mohsen Rezaei, an IRGC commander and member of Iran's National Security Council,