Iranian nuclear experts visited Russian labs with dual-use tech in 2024 - FT

Defence affairs - FINANCIAL TIMES

An Iranian delegation including nuclear scientists with ties to a sanctioned military research unit travelled to Russia last year to visit institutes producing dual-use technologies, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The visit, in August 2024, was led by Ali Kalvand, a 43-year-old Iranian nuclear physicist, who arrived in Moscow on a diplomatic service passport along with four others, according to the report.

While Kalvand said they represented a private consulting firm, Western officials told the newspaper the delegation included a military counter-intelligence officer and members linked to Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), described by the US as “the direct successor organization to Iran’s pre-2004 nuclear weapons program.”

Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons, citing a religious edict by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banning their use, and says its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful. Khamenei said last month that the West uses Tehran’s nuclear program as an excuse for confrontation.

Iran International reported last year, citing three independent sources in Iran, that the Islamic Republic was advancing its secret nuclear weapons program by restructuring the SPND.

According to the Financial Times, the Iranian delegation met with Russian companies that manufacture dual‑use components, including electron accelerators and klystrons — equipment used in nuclear implosion simulations.

The delegation’s members also included experts in neutron generators – devices with civilian and military applications – and radiation testing, as well as a former head of a company sanctioned by Washington for acting as a procurement front for SPND.