New sanctions, same old SPND
The public revelation of Iran's atomic archives continues to cause ripples, with the United States Treasury the latest government authority to delve into the documents pinched from under the nose of Iran's intelligence agencies. On 22 March, the Treasury released an extensive list ( here and here ) of sanctions designations targeted directly at SPND ( سازمان پژوهش های نوین دفاعی ), the Iranian military research organisation responsible for curating (and losing) the extensive records of Iran's pre-2003 nuclear weapons programme. This news must have been a real blow to scientists and other staff working at SPND, many of whom are already upset by stressful working conditions under Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Now they will find their freedom to travel, to publish and to speak academically, as well as their future work prospects,(even more) severely limited. These sanctions basically mean that SPND and its employees can forget about ever getting a bank account with anyth...