Pakistan and the Birth of Iran's Nuclear Program

Last night, I watched a great CBC documentary about Pakistani nuclear scientist, A.Q. Khan, who is the "father" of Pakistan's nuclear weapon - the first "Islamic bomb". (And yes, that's Canadian television.)

According to the documentary, Iran's nuclear program started in 1987, when Khan agreed to provide Iran with a series of centrifuges, which are used to enrich nuclear fuel.

Iran's nuclear program is predominantly based on technology and materials obtained from the black-market network set up by Khan, which allegedly include Chinese plans for a nuclear bomb. Khan is also responsible for the now defunct Libyan nuclear weapons program.

Here is a New York Times article about Khan's role in Iran's nuclear program.

Scary stuff.