Also Known As:
Behzad, Morteza
Morteza Behdad
Weapon Program:
- Nuclear
A scientist who has been involved in making and testing centrifuges and their components.
Has served as managing director and deputy chairman of the board of directors of Iran Enrichment Company (IEC); has served as the manager of Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA); has held several positions at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and its front companies; reportedly involved in research at the Fordou (Fordow) uranium enrichment facility; reportedly serves as director general of Farayand Technique Company (renamed Technology of Centrifuge of Iran Company (TCI) or Institute for Centrifuge Technology), as president of the executive board of Pars Trash Company, and as a member of the board of directors of Tamin Tajhizat Sanayeh Hasteieh; was reportedly charged with mass production of P-2 (IR-2) centrifuges; in 2006, was recognized by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for making "complex and sensitive centrifuge components"; reportedly a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); born on June 7, 1959.
Sanctions
As part of the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran, added on November 5, 2018 to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), freezing the person's assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting transactions with U.S. parties, pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems; foreign parties facilitating transactions for the person or otherwise assisting the person are subject to U.S. sanctions.
Previously added to the SDN list on December 13, 2012, pursuant to Executive Order 13382; removed from the SDN list in January 2016 as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Listed in an annex to U.N. Security Council resolution 1803 of March 3, 2008, as a person linked to Iran's proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or development of nuclear weapon delivery systems; removed from the U.N. list in January 2016 by U.N. Security Council resolution 2231.
Listed by the European Union on April 23, 2007, as an entity linked to Iran's proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or Iran's development of nuclear weapon delivery systems; removed from the E.U. list in January 2016 as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.