Norway accuses professor of violating Iran sanctions
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COPENHAGEN: A German-Iranian professor at a Norwegian technical university was charged on Wednesday with violating sanctions against Iran by inviting four visiting researchers from the Islamic Republic and giving them access to a laboratory.
A Norwegian prosecutor said visiting researchers had access to knowledge that could be useful for Iran’s nuclear program.
Norwegian TV station NRK reported that during the period February 2018 to 2019, the professor, who has not been identified, invited four Iranian researchers to NTNU University in Trondheim, the third largest city ââin scandinavian country. The length of stay of the guests varied.
âThe most serious thing here is that the Iranians had access to knowledge, and that is knowledge that could be useful for Iran’s nuclear program. We are not saying this is the case, but it is the potential danger here that is serious, âprosecutor Frederik Ranke told NRK.
Ranke said the professor was accused of violating Iranian sanctions, export control regulations and Norwegian data breach legislation. If found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Norway, a non-EU member, has adhered to all UN Security Council resolutions on Iran’s nuclear program and has supported the EU’s restrictive measures against Iran for several years.
According to his Norwegian lawyer, the professor denies having committed any wrongdoing. Lawyer Brynjulf ââRisnes told NRK his client had left Norway but was ready to return to stand trial.
“There is nothing in the information they have received and the projects they have worked on that allows them to contribute to the nuclear industry in any way,” Risnes told NRK.
PST, the Norwegian Homeland Security Agency, suspected the professor of contributing to a data breach by giving others unauthorized access to a computer system, NRK said. The actual data breach occurred when a program – provided by one of the visiting researchers – was installed. He could then recover data, even if he was not affiliated with NTNU, according to Ranke.
Bjarne Foss, head of the cybernetic engineering department at NTNU, told the academic journal that the Iranian professor and visiting researchers “used a special lab, called the nanomechanics lab, relatively intensively over a short period of time.”
The article states that advanced analysis of the properties of various metal alloys, such as strength and hardness, can be performed in the laboratory. After learning about this, university officials contacted PST in early 2019, the Universitetsavisa said.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television reports that the country’s top leader has appointed a new hard-line ally to head the state broadcaster.
Wednesday’s report says Peyman Jebeli replaced Abdolali Ali Asgari, who has completed a five-year term.
The change comes on the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters.
Jebeli, 55, has a long history in the public broadcasting company and was deputy political director there. He had also worked as deputy media secretary at the country’s Supreme National Security Council.
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