Report: Iranian Nuclear Scientists Held Secret Meetings In Russia To Seek Sensitive Weapons-Related Technology

Iranian nuclear scientists secretly traveled to Russia last year to pursue advanced technologies that the United States believes could be used in the development of nuclear weapons, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

According to the report, the covert visit was one in a series of meetings between Russian military research institutes and Iran’s Defense Innovation and Research Organization (SPND), which Washington has long accused of driving Tehran’s nuclear weapons work. Israel Hayom added that these meetings had not been publicly disclosed until now.

Documents obtained by the Financial Times indicate that the discussions mark the first concrete evidence of Moscow’s willingness to engage with Tehran on knowledge linked to nuclear weapons development. The newspaper verified the materials using company filings, sanctions data, leaked travel documents, and other correspondence.

The scope of cooperation remains unclear, but Jim Lamson, a senior fellow at the Jim Martin Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation Studies and a former CIA analyst, told the paper that Iranian scientists were likely seeking laser-related capabilities that would allow them to test and validate a nuclear bomb design without conducting an actual nuclear explosion. Iran insists its nuclear program is strictly civilian, while Russia publicly maintains that it opposes Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons.

Before Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites in June, Washington said it had no evidence that Iran had restarted an active weapons program. Still, U.S. officials warned that Tehran continued working to shorten the time needed to produce a bomb if it chose to do so.

Leaked documents and travel logs show that DamavandTech—a front company for SPND—organized a trip for Iranian laser specialists to St. Petersburg last November. There, they met with engineers from Laser Systems, a Russian company under U.S. sanctions that operates in sensitive civilian and military technologies. The company declined to comment.

A separate Financial Times investigation published in August found that DamavandTech and its CEO, Ali Kalvand, facilitated another meeting between Iranian nuclear experts, procurement agents, and Russian entities with intelligence and military ties. According to that report, several attendees used specially issued diplomatic passports that were sequentially numbered by Iran’s Foreign Ministry.