In a striking admission, former CIA officer John Kiriakou has revealed that Washington refrained from targeting Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan due to direct intervention from Saudi Arabia. The decision, he said, represented one of the major policy failures of U.S. intelligence in the early 2000s.

Kiriakou, who served the Central Intelligence Agency for 15 years as both an analyst and a counterterrorism officer, told ANI that the U.S. had operational-level intelligence on Khan’s location, habits, and movements.

However, a directive was issued to stand down after diplomatic appeals from Riyadh warned against any action.

According to Kiriakou, Saudi authorities urged Washington to “leave A.Q. Khan alone,” citing their close relationship with Islamabad and cooperation with the Pakistani nuclear scientist. “We knew precisely where he lived and how his day unfolded. But the Saudis stepped in, saying they liked and were working closely with him,” he stated.

The former agent described this episode as a serious lapse, arguing that an opportunity to dismantle a major proliferation network was deliberately ignored. During his later assignment with the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he learned that both CIA and IAEA officials confirmed executive orders not to target Khan came from the White House itself—reportedly at Riyadh’s insistence.

Kiriakou added that Saudi Arabia’s protection of Khan may have been tied to its own nuclear ambitions. He hinted that the kingdom’s collaboration with Pakistan could have extended beyond political and military domains, possibly into nuclear cooperation.

A Q Khan, born in Bhopal in 1936 before migrating to Pakistan after Partition, became infamous for developing Islamabad’s nuclear weapons programme and for illicitly exporting sensitive nuclear technology to countries such as Iran, North Korea, and Libya. He died in Islamabad in 2021 aged 85.

Kiriakou’s remarks come in the wake of a new Saudi–Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement inked in September 2025. The pact commits both nations to treat aggression against one as an attack on the other.

Kiriakou dismissed the deal’s novelty, pointing out that Pakistan has long formed the operational backbone of Saudi Arabia’s armed forces. “Nearly the entire Saudi military is staffed by Pakistanis. Saudis rarely enlist except for top positions,” he said wryly.

While describing talk of a Saudi “nuclear umbrella” as unrealistic, he acknowledged the longstanding defence and security nexus between the two Muslim-majority nations as one of deep strategic value. He suggested Riyadh could now be “calling in its investment” after decades of support to Pakistan’s defence sector.

Reflecting on America’s broader diplomatic conduct, Kiriakou criticised Washington’s continued alignment with Saudi Arabia despite the 9/11 attacks involving Saudi nationals. He described U.S. foreign policy as driven not by values but by shifting national interests. “We claim to stand for democracy and human rights, but our alliances often serve convenience over conscience,” he said bluntly.

Based On ANI Report