‘Saudis came to us and…’: Ex-CIA agent reveals why US 'didn't eliminate' Pak nuclear scientist AQ Khan

Updated on: Oct 25, 2025 01:47 AM IST

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Abdul Qadeer Khan is considered the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, which made his country the world’s first “Islamic nuclear power”.

Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer John Kiriakou has revealed that the United States decided against eliminating Abdul Qadeer Khan, the major figure behind Pakistan’s atomic bomb and a major supplier of nuclear technology, due to “direct intervention” by the Saudi government.

Kiriakou claimed that Saudi Arabia’s protection of Khan might have been linked to its own nuclear ambitions.

Notably, Khan is considered the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, which made his country the world’s first “Islamic nuclear power”.

Kiriakou on ‘direct intervention’ by Saudis

In an interview with news agency ANI, former CIA agent Kiriakou, who worked at the agency for 15 years as an analyst and later as part of its counterterrorism operations, said that the US had complete operational information on Khan, including his location and daily activities, but was instructed to halt the operation due to Saudi pressure.

He said, “A colleague of mine was dealing with AQ Khan. If we had taken the Israeli approach, we would have just killed him. He was easy enough to find. We knew where he lived. We knew how he spent his day.”

“But he also had the support of the Saudi government. And the Saudis came to us and said, 'Please leave him alone. Please. We like AQ Khan. We are working with AQ Khan. We are close to the Pakistanis... They named Faisalabad after King Faisal. Just leave him alone,’” the former agent added.

He added that while later working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he learnt that several officials from the CIA and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had confirmed that the White House had ordered not to eliminate Khan.

“And it had to be because the Saudis were demanding it, insisting on it,” he said.

Kiriakou claimed that Saudi Arabia’s protection of Khan might have been linked to its own nuclear ambitions. “We often wondered if it was because the Saudis were also building a nuclear capability. I think that's something we should probably be thinking about,” he said.

About Abdul Qadeer Khan

Khan was born in undivided India, in Bhopal, in 1936 and moved with his family to Pakistan in 1952 after the Partition. He died at the age of 85 in Islamabad in 2021.

He was regarded as one of the world’s most infamous nuclear smugglers, having supplied technology to countries such as North Korea, Iran, and Libya.

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