Eurasia Press & News
A Financial Times investigation unveiled that an Iranian company claimed to possess Western-origin nuclear-related technology, which highlights how Iran continues to adapt its procurement network to advance its nuclear program despite sanctions. The Financial Times reported on November 25 that an Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) front company, Imen Gostar Raman Kish, claimed that it uses US and European equipment in some of its products.[i] The SPND played a leading role in Iran’s nuclear weapons research program before 2003.[ii] Imen Gostar Raman Kish said that it uses radiation-detection tubes from United Kingdom-based company Centronic and components from United States-based company Elijen Technology for its radiation-detection devices.[iii] The Financial Times stated that there is no evidence that Elijen or Centronic were aware that they sold technology to Iranian entities.[iv] The United States sanctioned Imen Gostar Raman Kish’s chairperson and vice chairperson in October 2025 for contributing to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.[v] Imen Gostar Raman Kish’s chief executive, Javad Ghasemi, was part of an Iranian delegation that secretly traveled to Russia in August 2024 to visit Russian research institutes specializing in dual-use technologies that can be used in nuclear weapons development.[vi] A second Iranian delegation traveled to Russia in November 2024, possibly to seek “laser technology and expertise that could help [Iran] validate a nuclear weapon design without conducting a nuclear explosive test,” according to a former CIA analyst speaking to the Financial Times.[vii]
Iran has made minimal progress in repairing its three main nuclear sites that were damaged during the Israel-Iran War but has conducted “extensive” clean-up efforts at several nuclear weaponization sites, according to satellite imagery analyzed by the Institute for Science and International Security.[viii] The Institute assessed that Iranian clean-up efforts at four nuclear weaponization sites that were struck during the war “may be the prelude to rebuilding or related to sanitization activities.”[ix] The sites where Iran has conducted clean-up activities include:
Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) Headquarters, Tehran City: Iran is demolishing the top floors of the SPND headquarters on Fakhrizadeh Street, according to satellite imagery taken on October 23.[x] The Institute added that there are piles of rubble and salvaged equipment around the headquarters. Israel launched several airstrikes targeting the headquarters’ main building in June 2025.[xi]
Shahid Meisami Research Center, Alborz Province: The Institute reported that Iran has cleaned up several damaged buildings at the Shahid Meisami Research Center, according to satellite imagery taken on October 21.[xii] The Institute assessed that the clean-up efforts may be a “possible prelude to rebuilding” the center.[xiii] The Shahid Meisami Group is an Iranian chemical engineering and research group that is involved in Iran’s chemical weapons program and is a subsidiary of SPND.[xiv] Israel launched airstrikes during the war that targeted a small building in the southwest of the Shahid Meisami complex that was likely used as a laboratory or administrative center.[xv] Israel also struck a nearby hangar-looking building.[xvi] The hangar-looking building’s “high bay metal frame” remains intact, and Iran has collected piles of debris next to it.[xvii] Israeli intelligence previously assessed that the hangar-looking building housed “plastic explosives and advanced material for nuclear detonation testing.”[xviii]
CTP-ISW previously reported that Iran has conducted limited clean-up and rebuilding activities at other nuclear sites, including Lavisan 2 (Mojdeh) and Taleghan 2.[xix] Iran has also continued construction at the Mount Kolang Gaz La Facility near Natanz following the war.[xx] The Institute assessed that Iran has conducted “little activity” at Iran’s main nuclear sites—Natanz, Fordow, and the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center—since the war.[xxi]
Key Takeaways
Iranian Nuclear Program: A Financial Times investigation unveiled that an Iranian company claimed to possess Western-origin nuclear-related technology, which highlights how Iran continues to adapt its procurement network to advance its nuclear program despite sanctions.
Iranian Nuclear Program: Iran has made minimal progress in repairing its three main nuclear sites that were damaged during the Israel-Iran War but has conducted “extensive” clean-up efforts at several nuclear weaponization sites, according to satellite imagery analyzed by the Institute for Science and International Security. The Institute assessed that Iranian clean-up efforts at four nuclear weaponization sites that were struck during the war “may be the prelude to rebuilding or related to sanitization activities.”
Iran
Iranian media outlets affiliated with hardliners and pragmatic hardliners are spreading rumors about fissures within President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration amid ongoing efforts by these political factions to increase their influence in the regime. Some hardline outlets have recently circulated reports claiming that First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref resigned due to disagreements with Pezeshkian. Media outlets affiliated with pragmatic hardliner Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, including Sobh-e No and Khorasan, are amplifying rumors about Aref’s reported resignation.[xxii] Sobh-e No claimed on November 19 that Aref resigned because the Pezeshkian administration was making major decisions without coordinating with him.[xxiii] Khorasan claimed that Aref resigned due to “structural incoherence” between Aref, Pezeshkian’s Chief of Staff, Ali Haji Mirzaei, and Vice President for Executive Affairs Jafar Ghaem Panah.[xxiv] These reports come as different factions within the Iranian regime, including a faction centered around Ghalibaf, are fighting for influence in Iran to determine Iranian policy after the Israel-Iran War.
Iraq
Nothing significant to report.
Syria
Nothing significant to report.
Arabian Peninsula
Nothing significant to report.
Palestinian Territories and Lebanon
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on November 26 that Israel will expand its operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah is not disarmed by the end of the year. Katz reportedly told the Israeli Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on November 26 that Israel will have “no choice” but to use force in Lebanon if Hezbollah is not disarmed by the end of the year.[xxv] The August 2025 US proposal to disarm Hezbollah stipulated that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) would completely disarm Hezbollah by the end of 2025.[xxvi] The Lebanese government approved in September 2025 a different disarmament plan that stipulates that the LAF will only disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani River by the end of 2025.[xxvii] Lebanese ministers told Saudi media in early September that the LAF would need 15 months to completely disarm Hezbollah throughout Lebanon, however.[xxviii] Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) could expand its operations in Lebanon because the LAF has made limited progress in disarming Hezbollah.[xxix] CTP-ISW previously assessed that Hezbollah would likely use any delay in the implementation of the Lebanese government’s disarmament plan to reorganize and regenerate its forces.[xxx] A senior Israeli official told Israeli media on November 20 that Hezbollah’s “rebuilding” rate is currently outpacing Israel’s ability to dismantle the group.[xxxi] Senior Israeli officials noted in late October 2025 that Hezbollah has managed to smuggle “hundreds” of rockets from Syria into Lebanon.[xxxii] The IDF has identified and destroyed Hezbollah military infrastructure, including rocket storage and production facilities, in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon in recent weeks.[xxxiii] An unspecified senior IDF official told Israeli media on November 24 that the IDF must degrade Hezbollah to a point where the LAF is militarily stronger than Hezbollah.[xxxiv]
