Overview
- In interviews reported Nov. 7–8, Richard Barlow reiterates that A.Q. Khan’s network transferred gas centrifuge technology to Iran in the early 1990s.
- He says U.S. presidents continued certifying Pakistan as non‑nuclear through 1989 despite assessments that F‑16s were configured to deliver nuclear weapons.
- Barlow recounts a 1987 undercover effort to catch a Pakistani procurement agent for maraging steel that he alleges was compromised after a State Department tip‑off.
- He describes talk of an early‑1980s India–Israel plan to strike the Kahuta enrichment plant, adding that Ronald Reagan would have opposed any attack because of the Afghan covert war.
- The remarks prompted fresh political reaction in India, with a BJP lawmaker citing them to criticize past Congress leadership over decisions tied to Pakistan’s nuclear rise.