Pakistan’s ‘Islamic Bomb’ Conspiracy: Ex-CIA Officer Exposes How US Ignored Islamabad's Nuclear Deals To Counter India

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme, conceived as a deterrent against India, soon took on a broader ideological dimension, transforming into what its architects called an “Islamic bomb” aimed at empowering Muslim nations, former CIA officer Richard Barlow has revealed.

In an interview with ANI, Barlow, who worked as a counterproliferation officer with the CIA during the 1980s, said Islamabad’s atomic ambitions under scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan went far beyond national defence. The network, he claimed, shared sensitive nuclear technology with countries such as Iran, North Korea, and Libya.

“Pakistan’s primary motive for developing nuclear weapons was to counter India. But it was also very clear from AQ Khan and the generals’ perspective that it was not just the Pakistani bomb — it was the Islamic bomb,” Barlow said.

He noted that this ideological shift stemmed from then-Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s vision of an “Islamic bomb” following India’s 1974 nuclear test. Bhutto had appointed Khan to spearhead the project, setting Pakistan on the path to becoming the first Muslim-majority country with nuclear weapons capability.

AQ Khan’s Global Network

Abdul Qadeer Khan, often called the “father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb,” built a global black market for nuclear technology. Born in Bhopal in 1936 and migrating to Pakistan after Partition, Khan later established a network that smuggled gas centrifuge technology and sensitive blueprints to multiple countries.

According to Barlow, Khan’s assistance to Iran in the early 1990s drastically accelerated Tehran’s nuclear development. “There is no way Iran could have developed gas centrifuges without Pakistan’s help. The equipment and designs Khan provided cut decades off their programme,” he said.

US ‘Looked Away’ To Win Afghan War

Barlow claimed the United States deliberately ignored Pakistan’s nuclear build-up during the 1980s, as Washington relied on Islamabad to channel military aid to the Afghan Mujahideen fighting the Soviet Union.

“This was not an intelligence failure, it was a policy issue,” Barlow said, accusing senior US officials of misleading Congress about Pakistan’s activities. “The Reagan administration and Cold War policymakers prioritized defeating the Soviets over stopping nuclear proliferation.”

He pointed to a 1980 memo by then–National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski that stated, “We cannot let our proliferation policy dictate our foreign policy.” Barlow said this mindset defined Washington’s leniency toward Pakistan for decades.

The former officer recalled how a 1987 sting operation against Pakistani agent Arshad Pervez — who tried to buy maraging steel critical for uranium enrichment — was compromised after US officials allegedly tipped off Islamabad.“The enemy wasn’t outside; it was inside,” Barlow said, describing his frustration at the State Department’s actions.

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Despite clear violations of non-proliferation laws, aid to Pakistan continued under legal loopholes. Lawmakers like Senator Larry Pressler and Congressman Stephen Solarz had demanded sanctions, but political interests prevailed.By the late 1980s, US intelligence had evidence that Pakistan possessed all components of a nuclear weapon. Yet Washington chose silence.“Everyone knew. They just didn’t want to jeopardize the Afghan war,” Barlow said.

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Today, Pakistan remains the world’s only Islamic nuclear power, a legacy of a programme that began as deterrence but evolved into one of the most controversial proliferation stories of the 20th century.