The Obama administration has found that traces of man-made uranium discovered at the Parchin military base in Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2015 were consistent with evidence linking the site to Iran's past nuclear weapons program.  Administration officials said that the finding did not change the conclusion of the U.S. intelligence community that Iran had halted its nuclear weapon development efforts in 2003.  The two particles of uranium were discovered during an IAEA inspection of the military site last year--a visit that Iranian officials said would not be repeated.

Erdal Kuyumcu, CEO of New York-based Global Metallurgy LLC, pleaded guilty in a New York court to one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.  Kuyumcu conspired to obtain and export over 1,000 pounds of a metallic powder composed of cobalt and nickel from the United States to Iran without a required license from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.  Kuyumcu, 44, and his co-conspirators arranged to ship the metallic powder to Turkey to conceal the identity of the Iranian end-user.  The powder has applications in nuclear technology, missile production, and aerospace.  Kuyumcu faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.  

Ali Reza Parsa, a Canadian-Iranian dual citizen and resident of Canada, was sentenced to three years in federal prison for procuring dual-use electronic components for Iranian companies in violation of U.S. sanctions.  Between 2009 and 2015, Parsa conspired to obtain U.S.-made high-tech electronic components with both commerical and military uses for transshipment to Iran and other countries on behalf of clients of his Iranian procurement company.  Parsa used his Canadian company, Metal PM, to purchase components from U.S. suppliers and then transshipped the goods from Canada or the United Arab Emirates to Iran and other locations, falsifying the identity of the end-users in the transactions.  The goods included cryogenic accelerators, which have applications related to ballistic missile propellants and liquid-fuel rocket engines.

Iran conducted its first launch of the new Simorgh space launch vehicle, a launch that was judged to be partly successful by U.S. intelligence agencies.  According to a U.S. defense official, the event was either an unsuccessful launch or a test of the rocket's third stage that was not intended to send a satellite into orbit.  A State Department spokesman said he could not confirm the launch.  The Simorgh, a large liquid-fueled rocket, has been under surveillance by U.S. satellites at a launch pad at Iran's Semnan satellite launch center.  The rocket is believed to be based on North Korean missile technology and capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.  U.S. Vice Adm. James Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told Congress that the Simorgh eventually could be reconfigured as an intercontinental ballistic missile.