Pakistan nuclear weapons: There are more than 50 Muslim-majority countries in the world, including wealthy and developed Gulf nations, yet Pakistan remains the sole Muslim nation which has managed to build nuclear weapons, raising the question; why other Muslim countries, many of them arguably more powerful and developed than Pakistan, have not been able to acquire a nuclear weapon?
Why other Muslim countries don’t have nuclear weapons?
One of the primary reasons for Muslim nations not being able to acquire nuclear weapons has been due to overwhelming international pressures, particularly from Israel and its Western allies like the United States, and even direct military intervention.
In 1981, Israel destroyed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in an airstrike, and bombed a suspected nuclear site in Al-Kibar, Syria to rubble in 2007. Israel claimed that these strikes were aimed to cut short nuclear ambitions of Iraq and Syria, as it they would pose an existential threat to the Jewish State.
Similarly, while Iran has advanced uranium enrichment capabilities, but crippling economic sanctions, cyberattacks, and frequent attacks by the US and Israel, have prevented it from translating this capability into the development of a nuclear weapon.
The current Iran war was also waged by the US and Israel on the pretext that Tehran was “weeks away” from building a nuclear bomb.
Do Muslim countries except Pakistan lack nuclear knowhow?
A nuclear weapons program requires more than just vast financial backing, but also a highly advanced scientific and industrial base, including advanced metallurgy, uranium enrichment facilities, advanced missile technology, and a scientific apparatus continuously operating for decades.
Majority of Muslim countries have been marred by instability for ages, including civil wars, dictatorships, and political coups. This persistent chaos has prevented the development of a robust scientific research infrastructure capable of delivering nuclear capabilities.
Why wealthy Gulf states don’t seek nuclear weapons?
Muslim majority Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are some of the most prosperous and developed nations on the planet, but rather than developing a nuclear deterrent to boost their national security, they chose a more pragmatic path.
Arab countries have strong security alliances with the United States and other Western powers, and more recently Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defence pact with Pakistan, providing Riyadh with a nuclear security umbrella without directly possessing nuclear weapons.
How and why Pakistan became a nuclear power?
Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions were fuelled by its crushing defeat against India in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war, which led to the creation of Bangladesh. Following the military debacle, Pakistan’s top leadership concluded that nuclear capability was the one means to prevent future disintegration.
In 1974, India conducted its first successful nuclear Pakistan, resulting in Pakistan intensifying its own efforts to become a nuclear power, with the country’s leadership famously saying that “Pakistanis will eat grass, if that it what it takes to acquire nuclear capabilities”.
However, Pakistan’s nuclear success came largely due to Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr. A.Q. Khan obtaining secret centrifuge designs from Europe and established a vast, illicit supply network worldwide, allowing Islamabad to acquire critical components and technologies, circumventing international sanctions and surveillance agencies.
Experts believe that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program received substantial help from China, with Beijing providing technical assistance, weapon designs, and strategic guidance at crucial stages.
Additionally, the US needed Pakistan as an ally against the erstwhile Soviet Union during the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s, and its believed that Washington turned a blind eye to Pakistan’s rapidly expanding nuclear program.
First published on: Jul 27, 2026 10:16 PM IST
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