Ex-CIA Spy Claims Nuclear Scientist AQ Khan Had 'Pakistani Generals, Leaders On His Payroll'

Last Updated:November 23, 2025, 23:46 IST

James Lawler called Khan as the “Merchant of Death” for his role in supplying nuclear technology to multiple foreign programmes

The father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb Abdul Qadeer Khan. (AFP file photo)

Celebrated former CIA officer James Lawler has revealed that Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan had “certain Pakistani generals and leaders on his payroll" while running a global nuclear proliferation network. Lawler, widely credited for dismantling Khan’s nuclear smuggling operations, shared the details in an interview with ANI.

Lawler, who led the CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Division, called Khan as the “Merchant of Death" for his role in supplying nuclear technology to multiple foreign programmes. He noted that while the United States had long monitored Khan’s involvement in Pakistan’s nuclear programme, it took time to recognise the scale of his outward trafficking.

“We were very slow. We thought it was serious that he was supplying Pakistan, but we did not imagine he was going to turn around and become an outward proliferator," Lawler said.

Recounting his own career, Lawler said he began his counter-proliferation work during a posting in Europe, before leading the CIA’s European counter-proliferation office and later infiltrating Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. He described using covert entities that posed as suppliers of nuclear-related technology to intercept and sabotage illicit operations.

“If I want to want to defeat proliferation and proliferators, I need to become a proliferator," he said, explaining the rationale behind these sting operations.

Lawler highlighted how Khan’s network grew from procurement to full-scale nuclear trafficking, supplying not only centrifuge technology but also missile designs and a Chinese atomic bomb blueprint.

He warned that an Iranian nuclear weapon built with such technology could trigger a “nuclear pandemic" in the region, driving neighbouring countries to seek their own deterrents.

The former CIA officer also discussed the agency’s post-9/11 operations, including intercepting shipments to Libya and monitoring Pakistan’s nuclear assets to prevent materials from reaching terrorist groups. CIA Director George Tenet even confronted then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf with evidence of Khan’s activities.

Reflecting on his decades of work, Lawler, nicknamed “Mad Dog" following a 1980s incident in France, expressed no regrets and emphasised the importance of continued counter-proliferation efforts. He also urged closer cooperation between India and the United States, warning that a nuclear conflict in South Asia would have catastrophic global consequences.

(With inputs from agencies)

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