ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 1 (UPI) -- Pakistan's foreign minister confirmed Friday that Islamabad is sending old centrifuges to the U.N. nuclear watchdog probing Iran's nuclear program.
"We are fulfilling our obligations as a nuclear state," Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri told a news briefing in Islamabad. Although not recognized by the international community, India and Pakistan are both declared nuclear states.
Neighboring Iran acquired gas centrifuges, used for enriching uranium, from an illegal network headed by Pakistan's renegade scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. The United States says Iran is quietly making nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge.
The U.N. nuclear body, the International Agency for Atomic Energy, wants to inspect Pakistan's old centrifuges to verify if the traces of enriched uranium it found on the centrifuges in Iran came along with the equipment from Pakistan or originated in Iran.
Iran claims the traces of weapon-grade enriched uranium came along with the equipment it bought from the Khan network.
By allowing IAEA to inspect its centrifuges, Pakistan is helping the world body to determine if Iran indeed has a weapon-oriented nuclear program or if it is only developing uranium for producing energy, as Tehran claims.
