Iranian official Mohsen Rezaei did not say Pakistan vowed retribution against Israel with nuclear weapons

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a keyword search to find the original video and transcribed the full interview to verify the matter.

Posts from multiple users on social media platforms and media outlets since June 15, 2025, shared a video of Iranian National Security Council member Mohsen Rezaei, claiming that he said Pakistan told Iran that if Israel drops a nuclear bomb on Tehran, Pakistan would retaliate in kind amid current tensions. However, the video is doctored, and the Iranian official has not made any such statement.

Nearly 80 people, including top army officers, were killed while civilians were among over 300 wounded in Iran as a result of Israel’s strikes on military sites and private residences on June 13. Iran subsequently launched its own retaliation with ballistic missiles fired at Israel and the two countries continued to exchange a volley over the weekend.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “complete solidarity” with Iran while Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan would “safeguard Iran’s interests” amid the conflict.

HOW IT STARTED

On June 15, a video was shared on X by a user featuring an alleged statement from Rezaei. The post of the caption said: “Pakistan is going to muke Israel if Netanyahu tries to reach for nuclear weapon” and attributed the following quote to the Iranian official: “Pakistan told Iran that if Israel drops a nuclear bomb in Tehran, we will drop a nuclear bomb on them.”

The transcription of the video clip is provided below:

“What has happened in the past few days? All the Arab countries have contacted us and said that they support us. Pakistan has said that if Israel wants to launch an atomic bomb, we will launch an atomic bomb. The feelings of the Muslims in the region will be extremely overwhelming. The stronger we act, the more our people will cooperate with the armed forces, the more we will be able to overcome this turning point. This will be a turning point for our people in terms of political, military and economic development.”

The post garnered over 2.2 million views and was reshared 2,800 times.

The same video was also shared by the Turkiye bureau chief at UK-based news outlet Middle East Eye, gaining over 904,000 views.

Aditya Raj Kaul, a senior executive editor at India’s TV9 network, shared the clip as well. His post received more than 510,000 views.

Sidhant Sibal, assistant editor for foreign affairs at WION News, also shared the video, with his post accumulating over 426,000 views.

Indian journalist Rahul Shivshankar also shared the clip on his X account, gaining 19,000 views.

Another Indian journalist, Nabila Jamal, executive editor at TV9 Network, shared the same claim, and her post was viewed over 12,000 times.

Several other users on X shared the same claim as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, collectively gaining over more than 1.1m views.

The same claim was shared on Facebook here and on Instagram here as well.

The alleged statement was also picked up by several Indian media outlets such India Today report in a report published on June 16 and titled: “Pak assured tit-for-tat if Israel used N-bomb on us, Iran says; Islamabad denies”.

According to the report, a senior Iranian official claimed that Pakistan would launch a nuclear strike on Israel if it used nuclear weapons against Iran, adding that the statement was “swiftly denied by Islamabad”.

The clip was also found on the outlet’s X account, getting 23,300 views.

Moreover, The Times of India report on the same date also quoted Rezaei as saying the same in the a story titled: “‘Pakistan will attack Israel with nuclear missile’: Top Iranian official; can Shaheen-3 reach Tel Aviv?”.

The same quote was covered by the *Hindustan Times’ report with the headline: “‘Pakistan will nuke Israel if…’: Iran general’s big claim as conflict escalates”.

Similarly, Indian English news channel Times Now also shared the clip of Rezaei’s statement from the interview gathering 22,800 views.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality, keen public interest in the situation, widespread rumours about Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the ongoing conflict and because several social media users flagged the viral clip as being AI-generated, prompting an investigation.

A keyword search for “Mohsen Rezaei” and “interview” led to a news report by Iranian state-run outlet Press TV, dated June 15, covering the interview with the Iranian official with the following headline: “War against Zionist regime progressing with prudence and management: Ex-IRGC chief”.

The report made no mention of Pakistan or any such statement or threat communicated as in the viral clip.

Neither did reports from other Iranian state outlets IRNA and Shiraze contain any such mention of Pakistan in their reports on the interview.

A keyword search for “Mohsen Rezaei” led to a longer version of the video hosted on Iran-based video-sharing platform Aparat, on the City of the Sun channel. The same video was also found on YouTube, uploaded by the same channel.

Processing the video through the AI transcription tool Turboscribe, which generated an English transcript, also showed that Pakistan was not mentioned at any point in the transcript.

FACT-CHECK TITLE: FALSE

The claim that a video shows Iranian official Mohsen Rezaei saying that Pakistan assured Iran of attacking Israel with nuclear weapons is false.

The video is doctored and the official’s original interview contains no such statement.