Foreign Suppliers to Iran's Nuclear Development

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Foreign Suppliers to Iran's Nuclear Development

Enrichment

Karaj:

• In 1997, an Austrian company finished constructing a cyclotron at the site.[1]
• In 1992, China constructed a small (1milliAmp) calutron for Iran.[2]
• In 1991, Belgium's Ion Beam Applications provided Iran with a 30MeV cyclotron.[3]

Sharif University:

• In 1993, the Swiss firms AGIE and Charmilles Technologies shipped electrical discharge machinery (EDMs) to Iran.[4]
• In 1991, the German firm Karl Schenck provided Iran with at least one balancing machine.[5]
• In 1990-91, Germany's Leybold sold vacuum pumps to Iran for Sharif University.[6]
• In 1991, Iran's Sharif University approached the German firm Thyssen about buying specialized ring magnets, but its request was denied.[7]

University of Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC):

• In 1994, Iran obtained at least one copper vapor laser from China for the Ibn-e Heysam Research and Laboratory Complex at the TNRC.[8]
• In 1990-91, Germany’s Leybold Corporation sold vacuum pumps to the University of Tehran. However, these pumps may not have been delivered to Iran.[9]
• In 1978, US scientist Jeffery Eerkens sold four 16mm lasers to Iran's Ibn-e Heysam Research and Laboratory Complex.[10]

Unspecified Locations:

• In 4/98, Azerbaijani customs officials seized 22 tons of stainless still en route from Russia to Iran.[11]
• In 8/96, UK custom officials seized 55kg of maraging steel en route to Iran. The material had been shipped by the US manufacturer to a UK defense firm.[12]
• In 1996, Iran signed a letter of intent declaring its interest in purchasing the German company Sket Magdeburg, a machine tools manufacturer.[13]
• Under a 1/95 accord, Russia agreed to negotiate with Iran to construct a centrifuge enrichment plant., but under US pressure Russia cancelled the deal.[14]
• In 1993, Germany's Magnetfabrik Bonn provided Iran with ferretic ring magnets, but said they had no nuclear application. Iranian officials had previously approached company officials about the supply of "alnico-" (aluminum and nickel)- type ring magnets.[15]
• In 8/91, Reza (Ray) Amiri and Mohammed (Dan) Danesh were indicted in the United States for shipping an oscilloscope purchased from the US firm Tektronix, and pulse generators to Iran between 4/89 to 10/90.[16]
• Since 1990, Iran has approached Swiss and German firms to purchase balancing machines and diagnostic and monitoring equipment. Iran also contacted a UK firm to obtain samarium-cobalt magnetic equipment, useful in developing centrifuge top bearings.[17]
• In 1982-83, the Czechoslovak firm Strojimport supplied Iran with computer-numerical-control (CNC) lathes and vertical turning machines, which could be used in the manufacture of gas centrifuges.[18]
• In 1974, Iran loaned Eurodif $1 billion to establish a uranium enrichment plant in Tricastin, France. Iran was expected to purchase 10% of the 3%-enriched uranium fuel produced by Eurodif. In 1991, the International Commerce Commission ruled that France must repay the loan and that Iran would keep a small share of Eurodif, but France stated that it would not sell enriched uranium to Iran.[19]
• Pakistan supplied design information on Urenco G-1 and G-2 centrifuges to Iran, according to the German intelligence.[20]
• The Czechoslovak company TST Kovosvit Semimovo supplied Iran’s state-owned firm Machine Sazi Arak with at least five CNC drilling machines, which could be used in the manufacture of the large magnets required for calutrons.[21]

 

Notes:

1. Dan Coughlin, "US Sounds Alarm Over Iran Nuclear Threat," Electronic Telegraph, February 23,1997, (http://www.telegraph.co.uk).

2. Nuclear Engineering International, World Nuclear Handbook 1996 (Surrey, U.K.: Reed Business Publishing, 1995), p. 105; Mark Hibbs, "U.S. Warned Not to Try Using IAEA to Isolate or Destabilize Iran, Nucleonics Week, October 8, 1992, p. 10.

3. Het Belang van Limburg, February 12, 1992, pp. 1, 4; in "Belgian Cyclotron May Have Nuclear Uses," Proliferation Issues, March 3, 1992, pp. 39-40.

4. Bruce Johnson, "Iran Bound N-Plant Parts," Daily Telegraph, March 1, 1995; Michael Eisenstadt, Iranian Military Power: Capabilities and Intentions (Washington, D.C.: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1996), p. 109.

5. Herbert Krosney, Deadly Business (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993), p. 265; "Iran and the Bomb," FRONTLINE Show #1116, April 13, 1993.

6. Herbert Krosney, Deadly Business (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993), p.265; "Iran and the Bomb," FRONTLINE Show #1116, April 13, 1993; BBC Panorama, March 6, 1993; in Suppliers of Dual-Use Technology to Iran (Washington, D.C.: US House of Representatives, Subcommittee on International Security, International Organizations, and Human Rights, Committee on Foreign Affairs, September 13, 1993), p. 11.

7. Herbert Krosney, Deadly Business (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993), p. 264; "Iran and the Bomb," FRONTLINE, Show #1116, April 13, 1993; Michael Eisenstadt, Iranian Military Power: Capabilities and Intentions (Washington, D.C.: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1996), p. 106.

8. Mark Hibbs, "German-U.S. Nerves Frayed over Nuclear Ties to Iran," NuclearFuel, March 14, 1994, p. 10.

9. Michael Eisenstadt, Iranian Military Power: Capabilities and Intentions (Washington, D.C.: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1996), p. 108; Herbert Krosney, Deadly Business (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993), p. 265; "Iran and the Bomb," FRONTLINE, Show #1116, April 13, 1993

10. Leonard S. Spector, Nuclear Ambitions (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1990), p. 207 Herbert Krosney, Deadly Business (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993), p. 25-28.

11. According to press reports, the steel may have been intended for use in Iran's missile program. Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt, "Iran Nearly Got a Missile Alloy from Russians," New York Times, April 25, 1998, p. A1.

12. Maraging steel can also be used in missile development. Con Coughlin, "Britain Seizes Bomb-Grade Steel Cargo," Washington Times, August 11, 1996, p. A8; Rodney W. Jones, Mark G. McDonough, Toby F. Dalton, and Gregory D. Koblentz, Tracking Nuclear Proliferation: A Guide in Maps and Charts, 1998," (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1998). p. 172.

13. This item has weapons, non-weapons, and nuclear fuel cycle applications. Hence, the transfer is also listed in the "Acquire or Design and Fabricate Other Non-Nuclear Parts" section of this interactive factsheet. "Tehran to Buy German M-Tool Maker," Iran Brief, January 6, 1997, p. 8.

14. David Albright, "An Iranian Bomb?" Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 51 (March-August 1995), p. 22; "Iran’s Odd Reactor," Foreign Report, 15 June 1995; R. Jeffrey Smith, "Administration Concerned About Russia’s Nuclear Cooperation with Iran," Washington Post, p. A7; Con Coughlin, "Unveiled: Iran's Bomb Plans," Sunday Telegraph, September 24, 1995.

15. The "alnico" ring magnets can be used at very high speeds. Krosney, Deadly Business, p. 264; "Iran and the Bomb," FRONTLINE Show #1116, April 13, 1993.; Mark Hibbs, "Siemens Venture Believed Used in Pakistan Centrifuge Quest," NuclearFuel, August 28, 1995, p. 14. BBC Panorama; cited in Suppliers of Dual-Use Technology to Iran (Washington, D.C.: US House of Representatives, Subcommittee on International Security, International Organizations, and Human Rights, Committee on Foreign Affairs, September 13, 1993), p. 11.

16. These items have weapons, non-weapons and nuclear fuel cycle applications. Hence, the transfer of the pulse generators is also listed in the "Acquire or Design and Fabricate Other Non-Nuclear Parts" section of this interactive factsheet, and the transfer of the oscilloscope is also listed in the "Weapons Testing" section of this interactive factsheet. James V. Grimaldi and David Greewald, "Some Gear Legally Shipped by Firm Went to Agency Linked to Iranian Military," Orange County Register, August 30, 1991, p. D6; Marcy Gordon, "U.S. Exported Software, Parts to Iran, Syria, Records Show," San Francisco Chronicle, August 8, 1991, p. A2; Cristina Lee, "Pair Charged with Illegal Exports to Iran," Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1991, p. D2.

17. Rodney W. Jones, Mark G. McDonough, Toby F. Dalton, and Gregory D. Koblentz, Tracking Nuclear Proliferation: A Guide in Maps and Charts, 1998," (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1998). P. 172.

18. These items have weapons, non-weapons and nuclear fuel cycle applications. Hence, the transfer is also listed in the "Acquire or Design and Fabricate Other Non-Nuclear Parts" section of this interactive factsheet. John Shields, Profiles of Industrial and Scientific Activity in Iran (McLean, VA: Science Applications International Corporation, December 1992), p. G-11; "Success of Czechoslovak Machines in Iran," Czechoslovak Heavy Industry, March 1984, p. 37.

19. Dominique Leglu, Liberation, April 27, 1984, p. 23; in "German-Built Power Plant, Pakistani Uranium May Equal Iranian Bomb," Worldwide Report, June 15, 1984, pp. 1-3; Charles Hoots, "Iran and France Close to End of Nuclear Dispute, But Not Yet," Nucleonics Week, July 18, 1991, p. 6; Scheherazade Daneshku, "Bakhtiar Murder No Bar to Cordial Ties," Financial Times, October 17, 1991, p. 4.

20. Mark Hibbs, "Iran Says It Has No Plans to Acquire Enrichment Program or Plan," NuclearFuel, November 23, 1992, p. 5.

21. These items have weapons, non-weapons and nuclear fuel cycle applications. Hence, the transfer is also listed in the "Acquire or Design and Fabricate Other Non-Nuclear Parts" section of this interactive factsheet. Andrew Koch and Jeanette Wolf, "Iran's Nuclear Procurement Program: How Close to the Bomb?" The Nonproliferation Review, (Fall 1997), p. 126; "Success of Czechoslovak Machines in Iran," Czechoslovak Heavy Industry, March 1984, p. 8.

Prepared by Michael Barletta and Christina Ellington, November 1998
© Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies.

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