Rear Admiral Abbas Zamini, Lieutenant Commander for Technical Affairs of Iran's Navy, announced that Iran is in "the initial phases of manufacturing atomic submarines." Admiral Zamini said that using nuclear power to fuel submarines is one of the civilian applications of this technology.
News Briefs
May 30, 2012
Computer systems in Iran and elsewhere have been infected with a sophisticated piece of Malware of unknown origin, dubbed Flame or Flamer. The malware appears to have been operating since 2007 and was first detected in last April on computers belonging to the Iranian Oil Ministry and the Iranian National Oil Co. Flame can monitor keystrokes, record audio and screen shots, capture mobile data, steal passwords, intercept network traffic, and communicate wirelessly via a Bluetooth signal. Flame is 20 megabytes in size with 20 different plug-ins that can be swapped in and out for different functionality. According to the anti-virus firm that discovered the maleware (Kaspersky Lab), Flame is 20 times more complex than Stuxnet.
-- Wired via cnn.com
May 24, 2012
Talks in Baghdad between the P5+1 countries (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States) and Iran ended without a breakthrough, though all parties agreed to meet again in Moscow on June 18th. E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that the two sides found "some common ground," but that "significant differences remain." P5+1 proposals focused on winning a suspension of enrichment to 20 percent and the export of Iran's current stock of this material, in exchange for spare parts for Iran's civilian aircraft and nuclear safety assistance. Iranian officials called for sanctions easing and a recognition of Iran's right to enrich uranium.
-- New York Times
April 15, 2012
Iran and the members of the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States) met in Turkey to discuss Iran's nuclear program, the first such meeting in some 15 months. The meeting was intended to test Iran's willingness to negotiate; no concrete proposals were discussed. The two sides agreed to meet for additional talks in Baghdad on May 23.
-- New York Times
April 15, 2012
A dozen Iranian officials reportedly attended North Korea’s Unha-3 rocket launch. According to an anonymous source, the Iranians were members of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG). Government officials from South Korea neither confirmed nor denied the allegations.
-- Yonhap News
March 15, 2012
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a Belgium-based company, blocked 30 Iranian banks from using its service in reaction to recent European Union sanctions. SWIFT is a secure private network used by banks around the world to transfer money across international borders. Lazaro Campos, chief executive of SWIFT, stated that the decision was a “direct result of international and multilateral action to intensify financial sanctions against Iran."
-- Associated Press
March 2, 2012
David Levick, a 50 year old Australian national, and his Sydney-based company ICM Components Inc., have been indicted for conspiracy to defraud the United States and for exporting, in violation of U.S. law, equipment that could be used in missiles, drones and torpedoes. According to the U.S. Justice Department, between March 2007 and March 2009, Mr. Levick and ICM Components allegedly solicited purchase orders for U.S.-origin goods from a representative for a trading company in Iran, who operated intermediary companies in Malaysia. The goods include VG-34 Series Miniature Vertical Gyroscopes and K2000 Series Servo Actuators. Mr. Levick potentially faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge, and 20 years in prison for each of the four counts related to illegal exports.
-- Wall Street Journal
February 22, 2012
PRC Laser Corporation, a New Jersey-based company, agreed to pay a $42,000 fine to settle charges that it illegally shipped an industrial laser to Iran, via Dubai, in January 2010. The laser was purchased by Impex Intercontinental Trading LLC (Impex), a company with offices in Dubai and Tehran, which made payment by wire transfer through Tehrani Exchange in Iran. Impex described itself as a “special agent” for Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), an entity listed on the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals List.
-- Just Anti-Corruption
February 15, 2012
Iran’s first domestically-produced fuel rod containing 20-percent enriched uranium was installed at the Tehran Research Reactor, according to Iran’s IRNA news agency. The fuel rod was fabricated in Isfahan.
-- Associated Press
February 10, 2012
A court ruling found that four Singaporeans, Lim Kow Seng, Lim Yong Nam, Hia Soo Gan Benson, and Wong Yuh Lan, can be extradited to the United States to face charges relating to the smuggling of radio control devices to Iran, components of which were later found in improvised explosive devices in Iraq. Between June 2007 and February 2008, according to the U.S. Justice Department, the defendants arranged the transportation through Singapore of five separate shipments of 6,000 military antennas and radio frequency modules. The components were produced by a Minnesota company. Once extradited, the defendants face charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, smuggling, illegal export of goods from the U.S. to Iran, illegal export of defense articles from the U.S., false statements, and obstruction of justice. A fifth defendant, Hossein Larijani, an Iranian, remains at large.
-- Associated Press via bloomberg.com