No nuke assistance to Iran: Pakistan
Islamabad, Aug 6, IRNA -- Pakistan has rejected as "completely false,
irresponsible and motivated" a US media report alleging Pakistani
assistance to Iran in the latter's alleged enrichment program.
"Such reports appear part of a malicious campaign against
Pakistan's consistent and established record of safeguarding its
sensitive nuclear technology and ensuring that this technology was not
transferred by any organization or individual to any other country,"
a foreign office spokesman said yesterday.
He was responding to a question regarding a news report in the
US alleging Pakistan's assistance to an alleged Iranian enrichment
program.
The spokesman termed the report as "completely false,
irresponsible and obviously motivated." This allegation, he said,
had already been denied at the highest level.
"Pakistan's commitments, affirmed at the highest level, that it
would not export any sensitive technologies to third countries remains
unquestionable. Pakistan has a strong export control regime in place.
Pakistan's record in this regard is impeccable," he added.
He recalled a response by the State Department spokesman on March
10 to media speculations alleging Pakistan's cooperation with Iran in
the nuclear field.
He said the State Department spokesman had said that Pakistan had
affirmed that it did not want to become a source of sensitive
technology for Iran and the US believed that Pakistan took this
responsibility seriously.
Regarding Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the spokesman said "Pakistan's
prominent scientist had never set foot in Iran or ever met with any
Iranian nuclear experts."
"The false allegation by the so-called defector from Iran that Dr.
A.Q. Khan had a villa on the Caspian further demonstrated the baseless
and fabricated nature of these wild flights of fancy."
The spokesman further said that any similarity in the shape of
the centrifuges is due to the fact that they are all based on the
Zippe design.
He dwelt at length on the origin and nature of the centrifuge
enrichment technology and said the pioneering work on centrifuge
enrichment took place in Nazi Germany.
The spokesman further explained: After World War II, a number of
prominent German scientists engaged in the development of missile and
also centrifuge technology went to various countries.
The most prominent scientist in the centrifuge enrichment program
was Dr Gernot Zippe, who was taken to Suchami on the Black Sea where
he developed his famous Zippe centrifuge.
Subsequently, he worked in the University of Virginia in
Charlottesville. He was commissioned by the US Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC) to write a comprehensive technical report on
enrichment centrifuge technology and on the detailed design of
centrifuge machines. The Zippe report published in 1960 under AEC
Contract Number R.No. EP.4120-101-60U became the basis of all
subsequent and current work in this field.
The only barriers that then existed in 1960 towards
operationalizing centrifuge enrichment plants and projects were
imposed by the then state of materials technology. These constraints
were overcome over a period of time with the development of high
strength material able to withstand the necessary technical
requirements.
The spokesman said: "It should be clear that all present-day
centrifuges are based on the Zippe design and look similar since form
follows function." Such is also the case for missiles, cars, planes
and motorcycles, he added.
MMZ/LS/210
End.
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