PAKISTAN’S NUCLEAR BOMB:

A Story of Defiance,
Deterrence and Deviance
Book by : Hassan Abbas
Pakistan’s Nuclear Proliferation Links with Iran

Faiza-Azam
19L-1002
CS-2B
INTRODUCTION
Hassan Abbas (born 1969) is a Pakistani-American scholar and academic in the field
of South Asian and Middle Eastern studies. Dr. Hassan Abbas is a Senior Advisor and
Bernard Schwartz Fellow at Asia Society and Professor of International Security Studies
at National Defense University's College of International Security Affairs. He is currently
also a non-resident fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. His
research focuses have been on security issues pertaining to governance, law
enforcement and counterterrorism. Abbas worked in the governments of Benazir
Bhutto (1994–1996) and Musharraf (1999–2001). Abbas received a MALD and PhD
from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University; an LLM in
International Law from the University of Nottingham School of Law (as a Britannia
Chevenning Scholar); and a Masters in Political Science from the Government College,
Lahore, Punjab University, Pakistan.

 Abbas explores the ideological and political world of Abdul Qadeer Khan, commonly
known as A. Q. Khan, the brilliant engineer who guided the development of Pakistan’s
nuclear weapons program and then sold the technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea.
Islamabad eventually labeled him a rogue proliferator, but along the way, he had many
enablers. In the 1950s, the U.S. Atoms for Peace program built the foundation for
Pakistan’s nuclear establishment. Western universities trained the scientists who later
joined Khan’s team. European companies supplied him with components. Pakistani
military and political leaders collaborated with Khan or turned a blind eye to his
activities. Even today, Khan remains a national hero in Pakistan and lives under the
protection of the government. Abbas’ diligent scrutiny of public sources and his intimate
knowledge of Pakistani politics make this the most authoritative study yet written of
Khan’s complicated story
The book as the title says "A story of defiance" is an excellent account of
Pakistan's terrific nuclear journey. It provides an insight to how and why the
country begins its nuclear journey and how it becomes an important nuclear
state. Both questions have been carefully analyzed in this book. This book
critically examines how and why Pakistan acquired its nuclear weapons, and then
delves deeper into the motivations and circumstances of the nuclear proliferation
activities of Khan’s network, with a special focus on Iran, Libya, and North Korea.
SUMMARY
This chapter has described the relationship backgrounds of Iran and Pakistan over
nuclear power from 1986-2001. A.Q Khan supported Iran in the case of becoming
a nuclear power. It begins by looking at the history of bilateral relations between
Pakistan and Iran, their security perspectives, and the geopolitical influences in
the region at various periods. History of Pakistani–Iranian Relations 1947–1985:
Relations between the peoples of Iran and Pakistan date back more than a
thousand years. The geographical proximity, ethnic and linguistic links, shared and
similarly held religious beliefs, and regional politics played a role in this long
relationship. The Iran was the first country to recognize the new state of Pakistan
soon after its independence in 1947—acknowledging the common heritage and
historical relationship between Iran and the Muslims of South Asia. The creation
of another Muslim state in the neighborhood was seen by Iran as a positive
development. With weak state institutions (1950) , a shaky economic base, and an
entrenched feeling of insecurity, Pakistan was convinced that a strategy of
external alliances was essential in order to survive and meet its security
challenges. Slowly and gradually Pakistan moved towards Western military
alliances as the USA eyed it as a potential bulwark against Soviet expansionism in
the area.16 For Iran, joining Western military alliances created a period of
political turmoil. Throughout the 1950s, when the Kashmir issue came up
repeatedly at the UN, Pakistan could count on Iranian support both within the UN
and outside it, hence making their bond stronger. With Iran and Pakistan clearly
allied with the USA, in 1955 they both entered the US-led Baghdad Pact, which
included Iraq, Turkey, and Great Britain. Renamed the Central Treaty
Organization (CENTO) in 1958, it was intended to contain the Soviet Union’s
influence in South and West Asia. Their interaction via this platform brought
Pakistan and Iran even closer to each other. In July 1964 Iran, Pakistan, and
Turkey, the three influential US allies in the region, founded the Organization for
Regional Cooperation and Development (ORCD), which increased the level of
interaction between the governments of the three countries. The ORCD increased
cooperation in the economic, technical, and cultural fields outside the existing
framework of bilateral and multilateral collaboration, and fostered feelings of
camaraderie, easing travel restrictions and improving communications between
Iran, Pakistan.
During the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war over the disputed Kashmir region, Iran proved
to be a reliable ally for Pakistan. Iran supported Pakistan politically at
international forums, and its military support came in the shape of permission to
use its air bases in Zahedan and Mehrabad for refuelling and for protected
parking.Iran also helped Pakistan purchase used fighter aircraft from Canada soon
after the war, while it was blocked from acquiring the fighter planes due to the
UN arms embargo imposed during the war. Iran acquired the planes from Canada
and then transferred them to Pakistan on the pretext of installing upgrades.
Pakistan was trying to balance its relations with the USA and Iran. Abdul Sattar,
former foreign secretary and foreign minister of Pakistan, explained that ‘the
Iranian media perception of Pakistan as a proxy for US interests in the region was
painful to Pakistanis, who value Iran as a friend and a fraternal neighbor .Despite
a fast-developing partnership with the USA, Pakistani officials felt compelled to
criticize US actions against Iran in April 1980.
Pakistan’s nuclear program was well established by 1985–6,A. Q. Khan’s genius
and expertise of course played a central role in making Pakistan first Nuclear
Power. Providing nuclear technology consulting services became a favourite
sideline of Khan’s, and Iran became his first client in 1987.Khan openly confessed
such cooperation during an August 2009 television talk show in Pakistan where he
explained the motivations behind this collaboration by saying that Iran was
interested in acquiring nuclear technology. Since Iran was an important Muslim
country, we wished Iran to acquire this technology. Western countries pressured
us unfairly. If Iran succeeds in acquiring nuclear technology, we will be a strong
block in the region to counter international pressure.
Benazir Bhutto denied General Beg’s claim, she acknowledged that officials from
the Iranian government approached her about help with nuclear technology inthe
autumn of 1989 when she attended a conference for Islamic heads of government
in Tehran. She didn’t want to see Iran as a Nuclear Power state. Iranians struggle
for the Nuclear power (1957) The United States and Iran signed a civil nuclear
cooperation agreement as part of the US Atoms for Peace program. Iran
completed the formalities to purchase, from the USA, a 5 MW reacton for a
nuclear research centre at Tehran University. Iran signed the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on 1 July 1968, the day it was opened for signatures.
Iran also announced the establishment of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
(AEOI), with the Swiss-trained nuclear physicist Dr Akbar Etemad as its chairman
and set $30.8 million as the first year’s budget. Iran sent over a hundred students
to Western universities for advanced training in nuclear science and planned to
send three hundred more in 1976 to West Germany, the United States, France,
and the United Kingdom. Iran finalized many deals to acquire uranium-
enrichment services, nuclear plants, and nuclear power generators from France,
West Germany, and the USA. Pakistan’s nuclear links with Iran form a complex
two-decade episode and the relationship can be divided into four distinct phases,
from 1986 to 2007. In 1987, a deal was made to access Khan’s expertise. From
1988–92 efforts were made to expand the 1987 deal. The 1993–5 phase—transfer
of centrifuges and continued contacts between Khan and Iran until 2000. A. Q.
Khan, when confronted by Pakistani military interrogators in 2004 about his
dealings with Iran, named General Beg as the one who ‘urged him to share
nuclear technology with Iran’.
In conclusion, there is no doubt that the A. Q. Khan network played a crucial role
in Iran’s nuclear program. However, China’s support was also very important for
Iran. The new components provided by the A. Q. Khan network in the 1994–6
phase especially helped Iran expand its testing. By 1999 Iran had tested its
centrifuges with UF 6, and the construction of the Natanz nuclear enrichment
facility began in 2001. By 2002 Iran was able to test a small cascade of
centrifuges, and within a year of that threshold it started manufacturing
centrifuges locally. By 2007 Iran had manufactured 3,000 centrifuges and had 100
kilograms of enriched uranium in storage. Like Pakistan, Iran was determined to
acquire nuclear weapons technology by any means possible.
Iran's first nuclear power plant, the Bushehr I reactor, was completed with major
assistance from the Russian government agency Rosatom and officially opened on 12
September 2011.

CONCLUSION
In my opinion, powerful countries are the ones which do not leave their children to
starve to death in a search for a nuclear technology which is harmful to human beings
and environment. Nuclear weapon is the technology which places countries in economic
isolation and thus sinking them further into poverty. We are all called to learn
from Nagasaki and Hiroshima, that nuclear weapons can produce devastating impacts
to human beings and the environment we live in .Some countries have argued that they
obtain nuclear weapons to deter the possibility of being invaded by another country with
nuclear weapons, but this idea it is no longer viable. With the race in the becoming a
more power nuclear state , every country is trying to spend most of its economy on the
nuclear weapons thinking that this will secure their future. However, when all leaders
consider themselves as holding the future of their citizens, they will come up with a
technology that brightens their citizens’ future.