WASHINGTON, Oct 23: Dr A. Q. Khan smuggled several P2 centrifuges to Dubai, which might have been transferred to Iran, a senior Pakistani military official told a briefing in Washington.

The official, who did not want to be identified, told the briefing that P2 centrifuges were sent to North Korea as well.

“If you ask for an educated and intelligent guess, I would say, yes, they might have been sent to Iran too but we have no evidence to prove it,” the official said.

The highly unusual briefing, attended by the American and Pakistan media, was held amid the North Korean nuclear crisis and was aimed apparently at assuring the international community that the state of Pakistan was never involved in any proliferation efforts and that the network allegedly run by Dr Khan has been completely uprooted.

Iran denies receiving P2 centrifuges, but international inspectors have found evidence of Pakistani centrifuges at Iranian nuclear sites.

The official said that in 1995, long after Pakistan had discarded using the old P1 machines, Dr Khan ordered 200 P1 centrifuges ‘out of Kahuta to Dubai’, which were then sent to Iran.

Asked if he knew how many P2s were smuggled out, he said: “Three or four P2s were sent to Dubai.”

The official also said that Pakistan had no objection to subjecting Dr Khan to a polygraph test to determine if he was telling the truth to his interrogators, but the Americans refused to supply lie-detectors to Islamabad.

He said the government could never allow a foreign agency to interrogate Dr Khan because he was still considered a national hero. “There’s not a single Pakistani who does not consider him a national hero. It will be a highly controversial move and the political repercussions will be huge.”

The official said despite suffering from initial stages of prostate cancer, Dr Khan was fit for interrogation.