Nukes from Pakistan

last updated 8 January 2015

Tehran

Iran told U.N. officials this week that Pakistani scientists offered to help Iran build nuclear weapons back in 1987. Associates of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, met secretly with Iranian officials in Dubai to arrange the deal. “The offer was extensive,” said Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, “but [Iran] indicated that they did not, obviously, take these people up on the entirety of the offer.” ElBaradei said Iran did accept designs and equipment for enriching uranium, which can be used both in power plants and bombs. The Bush administration believes Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. ElBaradei said he had no proof of that, but called on Iran to turn over all nuclear-related documents. Iran’s track record of lying about its nuclear programs, he said, has created “a confidence deficit.”