Pakistan finally admitted today that the Iranian nuclear program got a big boost from the father of the Pakistani atomic-weapons program, AQ Khan. Up to now, Pakistan has not given any specifics about the work of Khan in spreading nuclear technology across the Asian continent, but atomic-energy watchdogs believe that his work enabled North Korea and Libya to develop their own programs far faster than analysts predicted. Libya, in fact, confirmed this when they abandoned their WMD programs in January 2004.

This time, Pakistan did get specific about the support Khan gave the Iranian mullahcracy:

Pakistan has admitted in the past that Khan, dubbed the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, smuggled nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya, but has not given specifics as to what he supplied.

"He has given centrifuges to Iran, but the government was in no way involved in this," Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Reuters. ...

A.Q. Khan, revered in Pakistan as the man who secured for Pakistan the nuclear arms capability to balance that of nuclear armed neighbor and rival India, admitted to proliferating nuclear materials last year and made a televised apology to the nation.

The Klaus Fuchs of Pakistan will not face any international tribunal; the Pakistanis have far too much gratitude for his development of weapons to match the Indian nuclear arsenal to cough him up. They have even refused to make him available for questioning, however, which creates suspicion that Khan didn't exactly go out on his own to assist the Axis of Evil tyrants. Musharraf may fear that Khan will say a little too much about previous Pakistani alliances and official policies of proliferation to Islamic regimes in the region.

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It is not news that part of the reason Iran and North Korea are as far along down the road to nuclear armorment is Pakistan's Abdul Qadeer Khan sold material and information to them. However until today, the Pakistani government... [Read More]

Tracked on March 10, 2005 12:44 PM