Are we seeing the return of the Nuke Ninjas – Iran and Pakistan? [Video]

One of the most intriguing developments in recent weeks apart from Iran and Israel raining hellfire on each other – was a rare visit by the Iranian President Ebrahim Raissi to Pakistan –  and to Sri Lanka.

The Iranian leader’s Pakistan visit is the first, by an Iranian President since their tit-for-tat missile strikes in January and the first visit by an Iranian President to Pakistan since 2008.

Iran is signalling it is not isolated, and that its anti-Israel stance has resonance in the region.
This visit goes beyond mending fences, and not allowing differences over Balochistan to set off another retaliatory missile attack.

Iran behind the scenes plans are to tap Pakistan to boost its ballistic missile capability.

India’s role as maritime policeman of the Red Sea has upset the Iranian leadership by going after the Iranian proxy, the Houthis who are blocking vital international shipping lanes.

Raissi’s South Asian foray rattled Washington. A few hours after Tehran and Islamabad signed eight memoranda of understanding (MoUs),  the United States warned Pakistan it would face sanctions if it goes ahead with its plans to trade with Tehran.

The US threat of sanctions stems from very real fears in Washington that the real reason behind the Iranian leader’s visit to Pakistan – is to pull off another Abdul Qadeer Khan – in other words –  just like the time when the father of Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, sold nuclear parts and nuclear secrets through the 80s and 90s to Iran and Libya –  Iran could be tempting Pakistan to do the same.

Tehran’s main objective is to shore up its ballistic missile capability, and specifically, persuade Pakistan to share its Nasr & Badr missile delivery systems, given that its own ageing F14 Tomcats and F4 Phantoms are near obsolete.

Are we seeing a new nexus – forged by China and Russia, driven by Iran that co-opts Pakistan into a formidable geopolitical alliance to counter Washington and Jerusalem? And the West?

Pakistan has to make a tough choice between restoring its strong relationship with key aid provider Saudi Arabia and selling missile delivery systems on the quiet to Iran.

Speaking to journalist Neena Gopal on the emerging threat are former Ambassador to UK Yash Sinha, who served in Pakistan and Iran; Prof Aftab Kamal Pasha, Director, Centre for West Asia Studies School of International Studies. Author and Documentary Filmmaker Dr Iqbal Chand Malhotra whose book The Bomb, the bank, the mullah and the poppies details how Pakistan sold centrifuge parts and nuclear technology to Iran and Libya

As the Middle East sees Israel and Iran upping the ante, are we seeing the return of the Nuclear Ninjas – Iran and Pakistan – to the centre stage of world politics?

Visuals: AP

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