WASHINGTON, Feb 27: International investigators have uncovered evidence of a meeting 18 years ago between Iranian officials and associates of Dr A. Q. Khan to provide Iran the basics of a nuclear weapons programme , the Washington Post reported on Sunday.

The meeting, believed to have taken place in a dusty Dubai office in 1987, kick-started Tehran's nuclear efforts and Dr Khan's black market network, the report claimed. The meeting led to a written offer from Dr Khan to supply Tehran with the makings of a nuclear weapons programme, the paper said.

Iran, which was at war with Iraq then, bought centrifuge designs and a starter kit for uranium enrichment. But Tehran recently told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it turned down the chance to buy the more sensitive equipment required for building the core of a bomb.