1972 

Fresh from receiving his doctorate in metallurgy, Khan starts work at Amsterdam’s Physical Dynamic Research Laboratory, where he helps develop an advanced centrifuge to enrich uranium.

1974

Khan meets secretly in Islamabad, Pakistan, with Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Khan offers to contribute his nuclear expertise to the country’s nascent atomic-weapons program. Bhutto sends him back to Amsterdam to covertly gather information and set up a procurement network.

1975

Dutch officials suspect Khan of passing classified information and material to his homeland, but the C.I.A. persuades the authorities not to arrest him. He is transferred away from sensitive work.

Khan moves to Pakistan, where he begins to build an enrichment facility based on plans he stole.

1983

A secret U.S. State Department memo declares that there is "unambiguous evidence that Pakistan is actively pursuing a nuclear weapons development program" centered at Khan's plant southeast of Islamabad. The same year, Khan is convicted of nuclear espionage in absentia in a Dutch court.

1987

Khan and some of his suppliers sell the first batch of nuclear technology to Iran in a clandestine meeting in Dubai and receive $10 million in cash. This marks the start of Khan’s transition from a buyer to a seller of nuclear goods.

1990

An Iraqi memo indicates that a middleman representing Khan offered nuclear technology to Saddam Hussein on the eve of the first Gulf War. The Iraqi government, suspecting a sting, turned down the offer.

1994

Khan initiates a second phase of sales to Iran, providing advanced centrifuges for enriching uranium.

1997

Expanding his nuclear trafficking, Khan strikes a deal with Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi to build a complete bombmaking factory in the North African country, with a price tag in excess of $100 million.  

1998

Pakistan explodes six nuclear devices, which were made with enriched uranium from Khan's labs.

1999

Along with extensive shipments of equipment through his black-market headquarters in Dubai, Khan provides Libya with plans for a nuclear warhead based on Chinese designs.

2004

Khan appears on Pakistani television to confess his illegal nuclear dealings with Iran, North Korea, and Libya. The statement is part of a deal in which Pakistan’s president, General Pervez Musharraf, would pardon Khan and place him under strict house arrest.
 

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