 |
November 20, 2024
This month’s newsletter features a report about the drone plant in Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which manufactures Iranian-designed Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for use in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The report examines the web of relationships enabling the operation of the plant despite heavy sanctions. Key to the plant’s success are the government-to-government relationship between Moscow and Tehran, the connections between the Alabuga SEZ and other Russian companies, and those companies’ relationships with suppliers abroad.
The newsletter also includes profiles of companies that have supplied resins and other composite materials to Iran’s nuclear program, as well as news about Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent, an Israeli strike on an Iranian facility reportedly involved in nuclear weapons-related research, and Iranian satellites launched by Russia. Additions to the Iran Watch library include European sanctions on Iran’s national airline and maritime carrier and U.S. efforts to disrupt Iranian oil sales.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox, or view the newsletter in your browser.
|
|
|
|
|
|
A map of Russia and Iran indicating the location of the Alabuga SEZ and several of the entities that support its drone production. (Credit: Wisconsin Project) |
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), an entity overseeing an industrial campus in Russia’s Tatarstan region, operates a drone plant under contract with the Russian military to manufacture Iranian-designed Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for use in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Although heavily sanctioned, the Alabuga SEZ has established and expanded production by functioning as the central node connecting various entities in Russia, Iran, and overseas, with the support of the Russian government. Disrupting the operation of the Alabuga SEZ and other Russian efforts to establish new UAV production lines requires carefully tracing networks of company-to-company and company-to-government relationships. |
|
|
|
|
|
In March, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned multiple companies and individuals for supplying resins and other composite materials to Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA) and other entities involved in Iran’s nuclear and military programs. |
|
|
|
|
|
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi visits uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. (Credit: Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency) |
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
November 20, 2024: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran has continued to expand its uranium enrichment activities, increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent by more than 17 kg, to a total of 182.3 kg. According to the report, during a recent visit to Iran by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, Iran offered to cap its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent, but that offer is reportedly conditional on an IAEA board censure resolution failing to pass.. |
|
|
|
|
|
November 15, 2024: Israel’s attack on Iran on October 26 destroyed an active Iranian nuclear weapons research facility in the Parchin military complex, according to U.S. and Israeli officials. The facility, known as Taleghan 2, contained equipment for designing the shaped plastic explosives used to detonate a nuclear weapon and is part of a recent effort by the Iranian government to conduct research that could be used to develop nuclear weapons. The facility was part of the Amad Plan, a pre-2004 Iranian program to develop nuclear weapons.. |
|
|
|
|
|
November 5, 2024: Russia launched two Iranian satellites into orbit aboard a Soyuz rocket: the Kowsar (a high-resolution imaging satellite) and Hodhod (a small communications satellite). The Iranian satellites were among 53 small satellites launched by the rocket, according to Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos. |
|
|
|
|
|
Iran’s continued military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine prompted the European Union and the United Kingdom to announce new sanctions measures against Iran.
-
The European Union prohibited the export to Iran of components used in the manufacture of missiles and UAVs and designated Iran’s national maritime carrier, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), and three Russian shipping companies for their involvement in the transfer of Iranian UAVs and missiles to Russia – November 18.
-
The United Kingdom sanctioned IRISL and Iran’s national airline, Iran Air, for transferring ballistic missiles to Russia – November 18.
The United States announced sanctions targeting Iran’s ability to generate revenue through oil sales.
-
The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned a Syria-based conglomerate involved in generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and the Houthis through the sale of Iranian oil to Syria and China – November 14.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Iran Watch is a website published by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. The Wisconsin Project is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts research, advocacy, and public education aimed at inhibiting strategic trade from contributing to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Copyright © 2024 - Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control
|
|
|
|
|
|
