Iran officially began construction on a 300-megawatt pressurized water reactor at Darkhovin in Khuzestan Province. According to Iranian officials, the project will rely on an indigenous design and is expected to take eight years to complete.
News Briefs
November 29, 2022
The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a 15-count indictment against Ray Hunt of Madison County, Alabama, accusing him of participating in an illegal scheme to export U.S.-origin goods to Iran. According to the indictment, Hunt conspired to export U.S.-origin parts used in the oil and gas industry to Iran using his Alabama-based company, Vega Tools LLC. Hunt allegedly transshipped the goods to Iran through Turkey and the UAE to evade U.S. sanctions.
-- Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs
November 22, 2022
Iran's nuclear agency announced it has begun enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity at its underground Fordow site for the first time. Previously Iran had been enriching to 60 percent only at the Natanz site. The agency also stated its intent to replace first generation centrifuges at Fordow with the more advanced IR-6 machines and to install an additional eight cascades there.
-- Tasnim News Agency
November 19, 2022
Russia and Iran have reached an agreement to manufacture inexpensive weaponized drones in Russia, according to unnamed security officials. The two countries are preparing to transfer designs and components to allow production to begin within months.
-- Washington Post
November 17, 2022
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors formally rebuked Iran, deciding that it was "essential and urgent" that Iran cooperate with the agency's investigation into nuclear material detected at three undeclared sites in Iran. The resolution was more pointed than a similar one passed in June. The U.S. ambassador also signaled for the first time that the United States would consider referring the matter to the U.N. Security Council.
-- Wall Street Journal
November 16, 2022
Iran released two Greek-flagged tankers on November 16, the same day that the Iranian-flagged tanker Lana (formerly Pegas) left Greek waters. Iran had seized the two tankers in the Persian Gulf in May, after the United States had confiscated part of the Lana's oil cargo in Greece.
-- Reuters
November 12, 2022
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his country would support further sanctions against Iran and that it was pushing to convene a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in response to Iran's crackdown on protestors. Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian had threatened his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock with an "appropriate and decisive" response if Germany supported more sanctions.
-- Deutsche Welle
November 10, 2022
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, claimed that his country has developed a hypersonic ballistic missile that can maneuver both inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere.
-- Tasnim News Agency
November 10, 2022
In its quarterly report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimated that Iran has amassed 62.3 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, an increase of 6.7 kilograms since the IAEA’s last report in September. A separate report stated that the agency is “seriously concerned” that Iran has not cooperated with an ongoing IAEA probe into the presence of uranium particles at three undeclared sites in the country.
-- Associated Press
November 5, 2022
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) successfully launched a new solid-fueled space rocket. Iran claims that the rocket, called the Ghaem-100, will be able to put an 80-kilogram payload into a 500-kilometer orbit. The head of the IRGC Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that the rocket would soon be used to place a Nahid satellite into orbit.
-- Associated Press