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Opinion | Who Controls Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal?

11 6
01.11.2025

Former CIA operative and whistleblower John Kiriakou isn’t new to controversy and his recent disclosure regarding Pakistan’s nuclear command and control structure is the latest bombshell. He claims that in 2002 while in Pakistan, he was told that the Pentagon controlled Pakistan’s nuclear assets and these were placed under an American General by the Government of Pakistan. Though Islamabad has publicly been denying the existence of any such arrangement, Kiriakou nevertheless stands by the same.

The live possibility of Pakistani nuclear weapons/material getting into the hands of terrorist groups has been a perennial cause of concern for Washington.

Accordingly, even though Kiriakou’s claim may sound outlandish, considering the criticality of this issue, the likelihood of the Pentagon having worked out a system of checks and balances to prevent this from happening cannot be ruled out.

This claim, whether fully accurate or not, raises several serious issues:

Pakistan presents itself as a........

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