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.



Kremlin, Asked if It Consulted Iran Over Trump’s Nuclear Letter, Says Tehran Makes Its Own Decisions 

A woman uses her mobile telephone as she walks past a mural painted on the outer wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, dubbed the "Den of Espionage", on March 8, 2025. (AFP)
A woman uses her mobile telephone as she walks past a mural painted on the outer wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, dubbed the "Den of Espionage", on March 8, 2025. (AFP)
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Kremlin, Asked if It Consulted Iran Over Trump’s Nuclear Letter, Says Tehran Makes Its Own Decisions 

A woman uses her mobile telephone as she walks past a mural painted on the outer wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, dubbed the "Den of Espionage", on March 8, 2025. (AFP)
A woman uses her mobile telephone as she walks past a mural painted on the outer wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, dubbed the "Den of Espionage", on March 8, 2025. (AFP)

The Kremlin, asked on Monday if Russia had held consultations with Iran before or after Tehran responded to a letter from US President Donald Trump urging the country to negotiate a nuclear deal, said Iran formulates its own policy positions.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations, a day after Trump said he had sent a letter urging Iran to engage in talks on a new nuclear deal.

Asked if Moscow had consulted with Tehran before or after Trump's letter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "No. Iran is a sovereign country and independently formulates its position on key foreign policy issues. It is clear that very tense contacts are ahead."

Trump has previously said he would reimpose a policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran, aimed at preventing the country from building nuclear weapons, even as he has signaled openness to a new nuclear accord with Tehran.

Russia and Iran have drawn closer since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Tehran providing Moscow with drones.

Regarding possible talks on Tehran's nuclear program, Peskov said: "It is clear that Iran is seeking negotiations based on mutual respect, constructive negotiations."

"We, of course, for our part, will continue to do everything that depends on us, everything that is possible, in order to bring this process of settling the Iranian nuclear dossier into a peaceful direction."