Iran sent its nuclear scientists into hiding following its June war with Israel, according to an unnamed Iranian official. The scientists were moved to secure locations in Tehran and other cities in northern Iran. Israeli authorities allegedly maintain a list of approximately 100 surviving scientists and have implied that additional assassinations could take place if the scientists continue their work. Israel killed more than 30 Iranian researchers during the war.
News Briefs
August 6, 2025
Iran executed Roozbeh Vadi, a nuclear scientist accused of spying for Israel. Vadi was a graduate of Amir Kabir University, and according to the university's alumni network he was working at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI)'s Research Institute for Nuclear Science. Iran's Ministry of Intelligence claimed that it has arrested 20 individuals connected to Israel. Human rights groups said that Iran has executed 10 people accused of spying for Israel since the brief war between the two countries in June.
-- New York Times
August 5, 2025
A delegation of Iranian nuclear scientists and procurement agents traveled to Moscow in August 2024 to visit Russian companies that produce dual-use technologies, according to documents reviewed by FT. The delegation was led by Ali Kalvand, the director of Tehran-based consulting firm DamavandTec, and its members included scientists and businessmen linked to Iran's Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND). The delegation visited two companies owned by a Russian nuclear scientist and vacuum technology expert that produce klystrons and electron accelerators, which have applications in nuclear weapons testing. Kalvand had earlier written to a Russian nuclear isotope supplier to request radioactive isotope samples including tritium, which has applications in nuclear implosion testing and boosting the yield of nuclear warheads.
-- Financial Times
July 23, 2025
Iran has agreed to host a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the coming weeks, an indication that it may allow international inspectors to resume monitoring nuclear work in the country. However, Iranian officials did not offer assurance that inspectors would eventually be allowed to visit Iran’s key nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, which were struck by the United States. Following U.S. and Israeli air strikes, Iran enacted a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA and inspectors subsequently left the country for safety reasons. European foreign ministers told Iran that the reimposition of U.N. sanctions might be delayed if Tehran resumed cooperation with the IAEA.
-- Wall Street Journal
July 21, 2025
The European Union imposed sanctions on Hossein Shamkhani, a major Iranian oil trader, and several of his companies as part of the latest restrictive measures against Russia. Shamkhani was sanctioned for his role in trading Russia oil and acting as a “central player” in the “shadow fleet” of vessels Russia uses to circumvent restrictions on oil sales. Admiral Group and Milavous Group Ltd, two of Shamkhani’s Dubai-based firms, were also sanctioned by the EU. According to an investigation by Bloomberg News, Shamkhani’s network is heavily involved in exports of Russian and Iranian oil and has set up a hedge fund with offices in London, Dubai, and Geneva to manage the revenues from these exports.
-- RBC Ukraine
July 21, 2025
In an interview, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran will not give up its uranium enrichment program despite U.S. insistence and that “serious” damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities was caused by U.S. airstrikes. Araghchi would not comment on the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, but said that all enrichment activities had ceased for the time being and that the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities is being evaluated by the atomic energy organization.
-- Fox News
July 21, 2025
Iran tested its Ghased (Qased) satellite carrier rocket with a suborbital flight. It was the first Iranian test of a space launch vehicle (SLV) since the brief war between Iran and Israel in June. The Ghased SLV was developed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and first unveiled in 2020.
-- Associated Press
July 21, 2025
Brian Assi (Brahim Assi), a Lebanon–based salesman for a multinational heavy-machinery maker with a U.S. subsidiary in Alachua, Florida, was sentenced to 44 months in prison for a scheme to export two U.S.-origin blasthole drill rigs to Iran via Turkey and Iraq. Assi conspired with Tehran-based Sakht Abzar Pars Co. to carry out the illegal export, in which he arranged for an Iraq-based distributor to purchase the machinery and used freight forwarders to ship it to Iraq and Turkey. His Iran-based co-conspirators then intended to re-export the machines from Turkey to Iran. As part of the scheme, Assi entered false information into the U.S. Automated Export System (AES) database and falsely informed his employer that the Iraq-based distributor was the ultimate consignee for the drill rigs. Assi and his co-conspirators also caused approximately USD $2.7 million from the illicit transaction in Turkey to pass through the U.S. financial system.
-- U.S. Department of Justice
July 17, 2025
Iran is making new efforts to arm its militia allies across the Middle East. Forces allied with Yemen’s government intercepted a large shipment of Iranian weapons sent to the Houthis, including cruise missiles, Qader antiship missiles, Saqr air-defense missiles, warheads, targeting components, and drone engines. The new Syrian government seized several weapons cargos, including Iranian-made air-defense missiles, Grad rockets used in truck-mounted multiple-launch systems, and Russian-made Kornet antitank missiles near its borders with Iraq and Lebanon. In addition, the Lebanese Army seized a shipment of Russian antitank missiles brought across the Syrian border.
-- Wall Street Journal
July 17, 2025
A new U.S. assessment found that U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in June largely destroyed the Fordow site, setting back uranium enrichment work by as much as two years, but that the other two sites were not as badly damaged. Iran may be able to resume uranium enrichment at these locations in the next several months, according to the assessment. The U.S. and Israeli government have been discussing whether additional strikes on the two less damaged facilities could be necessary if Iran does not agree to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States, or if there are signs that Iran is trying to rebuild at those locations.
-- NBC News