Closure of the Pakistan-Based A.Q. Khan Network Case: A Hasty Burial?

North Korea’s and Iran’s showdown with the US and the West on the nuclear proliferation issue are closely related to their dubious proliferation connections with the Pakistan-based A Q Khan network. Yet, Pakistan has announced that the case against Khan and his proliferation cohorts is closed. To comprehensively understand the nonproliferation challenges, it is crucial that the details about the network’s operations as also about Khan’s associates as well as their benefactors are publicly revealed. Islamabad’s recent decision to bury Khan’s linkages leaves under wraps the disturbing dimensions of the scope of complicity of Pakistan’s state agencies in Khan-led illegal transfers. In addition, many questions remain unanswered about the involvement of non-state actors in the Khan network internationally, including those in Europe and elsewhere.