Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by David Drew (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 12 December 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iran

Question: I hear what my right hon. Friend says about diplomacy. Does he agree, however, that the role of Pakistan is important in this regard, particularly the role that A.Q. Khan played in supposedly giving information on nuclear weaponry to the Government of Iran? Would it not be a good idea if that information were shared more widely, and if, rather than keeping A.Q. Khan under house arrest in Islamabad, he were made available to those who know what has happened, so that we can really see what information the Iranians have?

Answer: It certainly seems to me—as it presumably does to most objective observers of these events—that the proliferation of information, advice, tuition and details from the A.Q. Khan network has been one of the most dangerous examples of proliferation in recent years. If my hon. Friend's comment was an implicit criticism of President Musharraf, however, I will not join him in that. The President of Pakistan is making a serious effort in attempting to resolve the crisis with India in Kashmir, to restrain the excesses of the madrassahs, and to ensure a diminution of the entry of terrorism into Afghanistan. However, Iran itself has now declared that it has received offers of information on developing nuclear weaponry, and the proliferation of such information is very worrying indeed. As I said, the way to resolve this issue is for Iran to come back to the negotiating table and to respond to the efforts being made by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and by France and Germany to engage diplomatically on these matters.

Secondary information