The State Department on Monday sanctioned three Iranian nationals and one Iranian entity with ties to Iran's Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, accusing them of "engaging or attempting to engage in activities or transactions that materially contribute to, or pose a risk of materially contributing to, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery."
The three people are Sayyed Mohammad Reza Seddighi Saber, head of the Shahid Karimi Group of Iran's Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, known by its Persian acronym, SPND, which works on explosive-related projects; Ahmad Haghighat Talab, an SPND senior official and nuclear scientist who was involved in Iran's pre-2004 weapons program; and Mohammed Reza Mehdipur, a longtime SPND-affiliated official who has been involved in explosion and shock research on behalf of the organization.
The entity is Fuya Pars Prospective Technologists, also known as Ideal Vacuum, an SPND-affiliated company that has attempted to procure from foreign suppliers equipment that could be applicable in nuclear weapons research and development, according to the State Department.
"Iran continues to substantially expand its nuclear program and carry out dual-use research and development activities applicable to nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons delivery systems," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a press release.
"Iran is the only country in the world without nuclear weapons that is producing uranium enriched to 60 percent and it continues to use front companies and procurement agents to obscure its efforts to acquire dual-use items from foreign suppliers."