Norway Charges Professor with Violating Sanctions on Iran

A general view of the cityscape with the new Munch Museum, also called Lambda, to the left, in the Bjorvika neighborhood in Oslo, Norway November 17, 2020. NTB SCANPIX/Cornelius Poppe via REUTERS
A general view of the cityscape with the new Munch Museum, also called Lambda, to the left, in the Bjorvika neighborhood in Oslo, Norway November 17, 2020. NTB SCANPIX/Cornelius Poppe via REUTERS
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Norway Charges Professor with Violating Sanctions on Iran

A general view of the cityscape with the new Munch Museum, also called Lambda, to the left, in the Bjorvika neighborhood in Oslo, Norway November 17, 2020. NTB SCANPIX/Cornelius Poppe via REUTERS
A general view of the cityscape with the new Munch Museum, also called Lambda, to the left, in the Bjorvika neighborhood in Oslo, Norway November 17, 2020. NTB SCANPIX/Cornelius Poppe via REUTERS

A German-Iranian professor at a Norwegian technical university was charged Wednesday with violating sanctions on Iran by inviting four guest researchers from the Islamic Republic and giving them access to a laboratory.

A Norwegian prosecutor said the visiting researchers had access to knowledge that could be useful to Iran’s nuclear program.

Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported that during the period from February 2018 to 2019 the professor, who was not identified, invited four Iranian researchers to NTNU university in Trondheim, the Scandinavian country's third largest city. The duration of the guests' stay varied.

“The serious thing here is that people from Iran had access to knowledge, and this is knowledge that could be useful to Iran’s nuclear program. We do not say that it is, but it is the potential danger here that is serious,” The Associated Press quoted prosecutor Frederik Ranke as telling NRK.

Ranke said the professor was charged with violating the Iran sanctions, export control regulations and Norway's data breach legislation. If found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Non-European Union member Norway has adhered to all UN Security Council resolutions on Iran’s nuclear program and has supported EU restrictive measures against Iran for a number of years.

According to his Norwegian lawyer, the professor denies wrongdoing. Lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told NRK that is client has left Norway but is willing to return to stand trial.

“There is nothing in the information they have received and the projects they have worked on that enables them to contribute to the nuclear industry in any way,” Risnes told NRK.

PST, Norway’s domestic security agency, suspected the professor of having contributed to a data breach by giving others unauthorized access to a computer system, NRK said.

The actual data breach occurred when a program — given by one of the guest researchers — was installed. He could then retrieve data, even if he was not affiliated with NTNU, according to Ranke.

Bjarne Foss, head of the engineering cybernetics department at NTNU, told the university newspaper that the professor and the Iranian guest researchers "used a special lab, called the nano-mechanical lab, relatively intensively over a short period.”

The paper said that one can do advanced analyses of the properties of various metal alloys, such as their strength and hardness, in the lab.

After learning this, university officials contacted PST in early 2019, the Universitetsavisa said.



Russia Warns US, South Korea and Japan against Forming Security Alliance Targeting North Korea

Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference during the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP)
Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference during the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP)
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Russia Warns US, South Korea and Japan against Forming Security Alliance Targeting North Korea

Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference during the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP)
Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference during the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP)

Russia’s foreign minister on Saturday warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited his country's ally for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flew to North Korea’s eastern Wonsan city on Friday for a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui, The Associated Press.

Relations between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying troops and ammunitions to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. That has raised concerns among South Korea, the US and others that Russia might also transfer to North Korea sensitive technologies that can increase the danger of its nuclear and missile programs.

After a meeting with Choe on Saturday, Lavrov accused the US, South Korea and Japan of what he called their military buildups around North Korea.

“We warn against exploiting these ties to build alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia,” he told reporters, according to Russia’s state Tass news agency.

The US, South Korea and Japan have been expanding or restoring their trilateral military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. On Friday, the three countries held a joint air drill involving US nuclear-capable bombers near the Korean Peninsula, as their top military officers met in Seoul and urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities that threaten regional security.

North Korea views major US-led military drills as invasion rehearsals. It has long argued that it’s forced to develop nuclear weapons to defend itself from US military threats.

Lavrov said Russia understands North Korea’s decision to seek nuclear weapons.

“The technologies used by North Korea are the result of the work of its own scientists. We respect North Korea’s aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing a nuclear development,” Lavrov said.

During their meeting, Choe reiterated that North Korea “unconditionally” supports Russia’s fight against Ukraine. She described ties between North Korea and Russia as “the invincible alliance.”

Lavrov said he repeated Russia’s gratitude for the contribution that North Korean troops made in efforts to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

Wonsan city, the meeting venue, is where North Korea recently opened a mammoth beach resort that it says can accommodate nearly 20,000 people.

In his comments at the start of his meeting with Choe, Lavrov said that “I am sure that Russian tourists will be increasingly eager to come here. We will do everything we can to facilitate this, creating conditions for this, including air travel,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone is at the center of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s push to boost tourism as a way to improve his country’s troubled economy. But prospects for the biggest tourist complex in North Korea aren’t clear, as the country appears unlikely to fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists anytime soon.