By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, June 2, 1998; Page A07

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 1—A top Pakistani nuclear scientist said in a report published today that Pakistan has developed a new medium-range missile for nuclear warheads, but Western analysts expressed doubts about the assertion.

Samar Mobarik Mand, a scientist at Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission, said that the missile, the Shaheen-1, has a range of about 435 miles and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. He said it is "on the launching pad and awaits a go-ahead from the government," according to an interview in The Nation newspaper.

He said that another missile, a long-range design called the Shaheen-2 that also could carry nuclear warheads, will be ready for a test flight within a year. It is expected to have a range of about 1,250 miles, he said.

U.S. officials in Washington who are familiar with intelligence reports about Pakistan said they are unaware of the development of any such missile. One official called Mand's comments "bogus."

Recent underground nuclear tests by arch rivals India and Pakistan have prompted widespread concerns about a return to a destabilizing, Cold War-style nuclear standoff in South Asia. The 11 tests claimed by India and Pakistan since May 11 -- five by India and six by Pakistan -- have overshadowed the fact that both nations have aggressive, competitive missile programs as well.

Pakistan raised tensions in the region in April -- six weeks before India's nuclear tests -- when it flight-tested its medium-range Ghauri missile. With a range of 930 miles, the Ghauri is theoretically capable of hitting most of India's large cities. Tensions heightened further last week when, after the first Pakistani nuclear test, officials claimed that the missile could be fitted with a nuclear warhead.

India's arsenal likewise has missiles capable of hitting Pakistani cities -- and perhaps of carrying a nuclear payload. The short-range Prithvi missile could strike Lahore if launched from near the Pakistani border, and the Agni, with its 1,250-mile range, could reach all of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi arrived in Islamabad today on a previously planned visit and congratulated Pakistan on its nuclear achievement.

"From all over the world, Muslims are happy that Pakistan has this capability," he said, claiming it would help counter Israel's presumed nuclear weapons program.

For many years, some Western analysts have feared the development of an "Islamic bomb," but Pakistani officials have sought to remove any religious associations from their nuclear program and have not suggested that they would extend their nuclear power to shield other Muslim states.

Today's newspaper report on the new Shaheen-I missile implied that a test flight should be expected soon, but two authoritative Pakistani officials have said recently that the country has no imminent plans for a missile test. On Sunday, Abdul Qadeer Khan, the architect of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, said no such tests were planned, repeating similar assurances given the day before in a news conference by Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad.

The conflicting signals are but the latest in a series of contradictory statements by high-ranking officials in both the Indian and Pakistani governments that have raised tension and given momentum to the nuclear weapons crisis gripping the subcontinent.

The headline-capturing conflict has shocked investors, especially in debt-ridden Pakistan, which faces the possibility of financial collapse because of economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries angry that the two neighbors have ignored a global consensus for arms control and nonproliferation.

Pakistan's president declared a state of emergency after its first bomb tests Thursday, freezing foreign currency withdrawals and exchanges for fear that a flight of foreign capital could push the country to the brink of default on its foreign debt.

Staff writer R. Jeffrey Smith in Washington contributed to this report.