Pakistan’s fear: Israel may target its nuclear arms
As the Iran-Israel conflict rages, US President Donald Trump left the G7 summit in Canada in a hurry and called for immediate evacuation of Iran’s capital Tehran. In a cryptic post on Truth Social account, Trump wrote: “Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a “cease fire” between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned.”
In another social media post, Trump asked people to leave Tehran immediately. Trump wrote: “Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CANNOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it, over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
Israel’s army on Tuesday claimed it had killed Iran’s wartime chief of army staff Ali Shadmani, said to be the most senior military commander. Israel on Monday night hit Iran’s broadcasting authority sending a newsreader hurrying from her seat after the blast. Iranian state television said the strike killed three people, while Israel claimed that the TV building was acting as a communications centre for Iran’s army.
With both countries threatening to nuke each other, the Middle East is teetering on the brink of a major catastrophe. The G7 summit in a joint statement expressed support for Israel and described Iran as a source of instability in the region. The statement said, “We affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel….Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror …G7 is clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
Iranian experts have claimed that their nuclear sites are located 60 to 80 metres below the ground, while the Israeli missiles could penetrate only up to six feet underground. One of the experts said, it is only the US which has the capability to destroy these underground nuclear sites.
If America attacks Iranian nuclear sites, it would be mean the US joining the war. If that happens, Pakistan could be the next target. Israel has already said that if there is any irresponsible nuclear power in the world, it is Pakistan.
Leaders of all major parties in Islamabad are fearing that Israel can target Pakistan after Iran. Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaza Asif has appealed to all Islamic countries to join hands and stop Israel.
Meanwhile, a video clip of a senior Iranian commander and member of national security council, Mohsin Rezaei saying in an interview on state television, “Pakistan has assured us that if Israel uses a nuclear bomb on Iran, they will attack Israel with a nuclear bomb” has become viral. Soon after this clip came on social media, Pakistan Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar clarified that Pakistan has never spoken about attacking Israel. Dar said, Pakistan’s nuclear bombs are for its own security and not for helping any other country.
Pakistan has several problems with its nuclear warheads.
Firstly, Pakistan is the only nuclear power in the world that threatens to nuke others. During the recent India-Pak conflict, Pakistan’s ministers used to casually speak about their nuclear warheads. This is a big risk for the rest of the world. Pakistan’s Railway Minister even went to the extent of claiming that his country had 141 nuclear bombs. Imagine, how a minister of a nuclear power can make such an irresponsible remark.
Secondly, Donald Trump has claimed repeatedly that it was he who stopped a nuclear war between India and Pakistan recently. In other words, it meant that when Indian missiles destroyed a Pakistani air base, Pakistan went begging to the US and said that if India is not stopped, it would be forced to use its nuclear warheads.
Israel understands the nuances of all such claims and threats. The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad keeps a close tab on each activity that takes place in Pakistan.
Pakistan has extended full support to Iran in its war against Israel. Therefore, there is bound to be fear in Pakistani circles about the possibility of Israel targeting Pakistan’s nuclear installations.
Pakistan’s biggest conundrum is that it cannot go to the US to complain against Israel. US is providing full support to Israel in its war against Iran. Naturally, Pakistan’s military leadership is worried, and its lies stand exposed. Pakistan is now caught in a cleft stick. It is neither here, nor there.
Dreamliners : The faults and fears
Four days after the Ahmedabad plane crash, two Boeing Dreamliner aircraft were forced to return to London and Hong Kong with the pilots raising red flags about technical glitches. Air India flight AI-315 took off from Hong Kong on Monday and had to return due to technical glitch. The pilots informed Air Traffic Control, “ we don’t want to continue further” and requested clearance to return.
The Chennai-bound British Airways Dreamliner took off from London on Sunday but returned soon after take-off. The captain reported some “flap adjustment failure”, dumped most of the fuel in the sea before returning to Heathrow.
On Tuesday, officials of the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) questioned the Air India engineering department head when another Dreamliner flight heading to London from Ahmedabad was cancelled abruptly due to technical glitch.
Earlier, on Monday, the high-level multi-disciplinary committee set up by the Centre to probe the Ahmedabad plane crash, met to analyse the possible causes of the crash. The meeting, headed by Home Secretary Govind Mohan, decided to frame standard operating procedures for preventing such occurrences in future.
Already there are apprehensions in the minds of fliers after three Dreamliners encountered technical glitches in less than a week. I think there should be no problem in taking utmost precautions before any aircraft is allowed to take-off.
Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Reddy said, Air India operates 34 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The safety checks of 12 of them have been done and no issue has been found so far, he said. Reddy said, the probe committee will submit its report within three months.
The probability about whether a sudden power failure caused both the engines to stop working is being studied. Variable Frequency Starter Generators provide electric power to start the engines, and if they failed, they could have stopped the Electronic Engine Controls (EECs) which are said to the throttle computers of the aircraft.
On the reasons behind Ahmedabad plane crash, we should wait for the report of the probe committee after it analyses the black box and other evidence.