Nuclear war fears explode as Russia accused of selling bomb technology to Iran

Russia is suspected of helping Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, according to a new bombshell investigation. Moscow and Tehran have traditionally enjoyed close relations, that have been reinforced by Russia‘s war in Ukraine.

Iran has provided Putin’s army with Shahed drones and given Moscow licence to produce their own versions. Tehran has also given political cover to the Kremlin on the international stage, regularly voting against United Nations resolutions condemning Russia for its war of aggression. It has long been suspected that Russia has been providing support to Iran’s nuclear programme.

Now new documents obtained by the Financial Times appear to show those suspicions as being well founded.

The British newspaper claims that Iranian scientists and nuclear experts made a second covert visit to Russia in 2024.

This was part of a series of exchanges between Russian military research institutes and the Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND).

The SPND is an Iranian military-connected unit that the US accuses of spearheading Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.

Jim Lamson – a former CIA analyst – told the FT that the evidence pointed to Iran attempting to get hold of laser technology and expertise that could help them validate a nuclear weapon design without conducting a nuclear explosive test”.

Tehran has always insisted that its nuclear programme is totally peaceful and meant for domestic use. Prior to the summer when US and Israeli jets bombed nuclear facilities in Iran, Tehran was estimated to possess over 400 kilograms of Uranium enriched to 60%.

The amount of highly enriched uranium was significant because it was considered “near” weapons-grade.

This meant it could potentially have been further enriched to weapons-grade with the right technical capability.

It is unclear whether the joint US and Israeli raids were successful in destroying Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

Donald Trump called the bombings of the three nuclear sites a “spectacular military success”.