November 19, 2021
Abdul Qadeer Khan, lionized in Pakistan as the father of his country’s atomic bomb but also the father of Iran’s nuclear program died October 10 at age 85.
The nuclear scientist was admitted to a hospital August 26 after testing positive for Covid-19.
“He was loved by our nation because of his critical contribution in making us a nuclear weapon state,” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Twitter.
But A. Q. Khan also confessed to being at the core of an operation that sold nuclear secrets he had solen in Europe to North Korea, Iran and Libya.
Analysts and United Nations officials have said his illicit network, which specialized in helping countries skirt international restrictions, created the greatest nuclear proliferation crisis.
After a confession on national television to his involvement in selling nuclear secrets, Khan was pardoned by then-President Pervez Musharraf. He remained under house arrest for years in his palatial Islamabad home.
In his confession, Khan said he acted alone without the knowledge of state officials. Later, he said he had been scapegoated.
Pakistan never let foreign investigators question Khan.
He gained his initial knowledge of the nuclear fuel cycle when he was employed in the Netherlands at a centrifuge operation that enriched uranium for European power plants