Iranian scientists secretly visited Russia last year to advance nuclear weapons program – report

Iranian nuclear scientists repeatedly visited Russia last year for meetings with military researchers, involving company sanctioned by US for its efforts to obtain nuclear explosive devices.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran and Russia cooperated closely to facilitate Tehran’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons last year, according to a new report that found that at least two separate trips to Russia were organized for Iranian nuclear scientists.

The report, published by the Financial Times Wednesday night, revealed that on two separate occasions in 2024, delegations of Iranian nuclear scientists were flown to Russia where they met with military researchers.

In August, the Financial Times reported on the first trip to Russia, organized by DamavandTec, a group blacklisted by the US for its efforts to obtain nuclear weapon technology on behalf of Iran’s Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research.

The first trip took place in August of 2024, and included a mix of nuclear scientists, Iranian military intelligence officers, and DamavandTec officials sanctioned by the US for their weapon procurement efforts.

Wednesday’s report reveals that a second trip took place last year, with an Iranian delegation traveling to Russia between November 7 and the 11.

The delegation was headed by DamavandTec chief Ali Kalvand, and included four others listed as employees of the company, including a researcher from the Malek Ashtar University of Technology, an institution controlled by Iran’s defense ministry and blacklisted by the US and European Union for its connections to the Iranian nuclear program.

According to the report, the delegation was composed of physicists and engineers linked to the Iranian defense establishment.

Like the August visit, the Iranian scientists who visited in November of 2024 were hosted by Russian military institutes, highlighting the close cooperation between Iran’s nuclear program and Russian military researchers.

Iran has denied that its atomic program is involved in pursuing nuclear weapons, claiming that it is only used for civilian energy and scientific research.

However, a visit by Russian laser researcher, Andrey Savin, to Tehran this February points to Iran’s efforts to test its nuclear weapons technology without detonating a bomb, thus making it easier to avoid detection, experts say.

Jim Lamson, a former CIA analyst who now works as a senior researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told the Times that the evidence suggests Iran is “seeking laser technology and expertise that could help them validate a nuclear weapon design without conducting a nuclear explosive test.”

The reports documenting the trips by Iranian scientists to Russia and by Russian researchers to Iran provides “strong evidence that Russia was assisting Iran in its nuclear weapons-related research,” warned Carnegie Endowment for International Peace fellow Nicole Grajewski.

“This activity looks like it is state-sanctioned at a high level on the Russian and Iranian sides.”