The Hindu : International : Pakistan gave Iran nuclear lead: CIA

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 25, 2004

International

International

Pakistan gave Iran nuclear lead: CIA

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, NOV. 24. The CIA says Pakistan gave Iran "significant assistance" in the nuclear programme including designs for "advanced and efficient" weapons components.

The Pakistan-Iran nexus came through the now supposedly busted A.Q. Khan network; but the CIA has stopped short of saying if the network had sold the full set of plans for building warheads as it is believed to have done with Libya and perhaps even North Korea.

American intelligence agencies have been tracking the Khan network for quite some years but the CIA's unclassified report suggests that while the dealings between Mr. Khan and the Iranians may have dated back to the 1990s, the substance of the dealings is far more significant than have been previously acknowledged.

The New York Times has quoted the former CIA Director, George Tenet, as saying in a private speech that Mr. Khan was "at least as dangerous as Osama bin Laden" for he was peddling nuclear technology.

The thinking in the official community has been that Mr. Khan may have given Iran only designs for older centrifuges for enriching uranium.

But now the CIA says Pakistan through Mr. Khan may have passed along designs that include weapons components.

Classified version

The CIA's position has come by way of an annual reporting to Congress mandated by law on the General Acquisition of Technology for Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions; and technically covers only the period between July and December 2003. A classified version of the report has been given to Congressional intelligence committees, it is said. The conviction of the CIA is that Iran is pursuing a clandestine nuclear programme contrary to its public formulations.

On the nature of designs, American officials have expressed concern of whatever the Khan network may have supplied Teheran. It is said the network only supplied Libya with warhead designs of ageing Chinese versions.

Bush's fiat to CIA

The President, George W Bush, has ordered both the CIA and the FBI to bolster their functioning including on the operational front. He told the CIA that it should consider and present `diverse' views to policy makers. This is seen as a direct response to the head of the CIA, Porter Goss, who appeared to have suggested to employees that they should `support' the administration.

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