Another SPND front company: Payeshgaran Parto Danesh Co

When Iran Redline just wants to switch off and enjoy some mindless fun, we go looking for front companies belonging to SPND (سازمان سپند), the secretive Iranian defense research entity. SPND is so hapless at operational security (hello Atomic Archive!) that this kind of detective work is less Sherlock Holmes and more no shit, Sherlock.

Today we're revealing SPND's connections to Payeshgaran Parto Danesh Company (شرکت پایشگران پرتو دانش, ID: 10320164354), also known as IPPD Responder or PPD.

PPD advertises itself as a provider of specialized training in radiation detection and protection services. They're licensed by Iran's Atomic Energy Organization to conduct radiation protection training courses, and their website shows that they've ran several of these courses for universities and industrial companies.

This is a nice money-spinner for some old hands from SPND who learned their radiation protection skills from handling the very sort of nuclear materials that the IAEA - the global nuclear watchdog - is now chasing in Iran. But you won't see that fact on PPD's flashy advertising materials.

Neither will you see that four of PPD's directors are actually die-hard SPND members. Let's look at each of them.

First up is Behzad Ahadi Bileh Dargh (بهزاد احدی بیله درق, ID: 1463260431). We've written about him before: a senior researcher in physics at SPND, Ahadi makes no attempt to hide that fact.

Second is another old favorite, Hossein Ziloei (aka Hossein Ziluei or حسین زیلوئی, ID: 1261873671). Ziloei has been affiliated with SPND's Institute of Applied Physics since at least 2010, and has been publicly outed in lists of SPND members released by the NCRI organization. He's also a long-time colleague of SPND old hands Mohsen Foroughizadeh (محسن فروغی زاده, ID: 0932062326) and Parviz Katani (پرویز کتانی).

The third PPD owner is Mohammad Reza Zare Zolfaghalchi (محمدرضا زارع ذغالچال, ID: 2092614517). With a PhD in radiation detection from Esfahan University, Zare is a co-author of Behzad Ahadi and has published recently under the affiliation of SPND's Institute of Applied Physics.

Fourth is Shahram Seddighi Dariani (شهرام صدیقی داریانی, ID: 0069045070). We've also busted him publishing under the explicit affiliation of SPND alongside Behzad Ahadi.

Working alongside these big dogs is PPD's resident gopher and enthusiastic Telegram channel maintainer, Mohammadreza Omidali (محمدرضا امیدعلی). Omidali is a nuclear engineer from Amir Kabir University. He's worked alongside Behzad Ahadi and SPND's Ali Fouladvand (علی فولادوند) on a variety of CBRN emergency response research topics. Probably another SPND man!

Here's all those connections in pictorial form:

We really hope that business booms at PPD and all of these guys can retire from their main gigs at SPND. Unfortunately, as with all SPND front companies, we doubt that success is written in the stars...

See you next time!