EXCLUSIVE — An anti-nuclear Iran watchdog group has accused five U.S. universities of collaborating with entities sanctioned by the United States and the European Union.
United Against a Nuclear Iran, a nonprofit organization dedicated to monitoring threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, sent a series of letters to Virginia Tech University, the University of Washington, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Clarkson University, and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in December that alleged people associated with the institutions had collaborated on technical research with people associated with three Iranian entities sanctioned by Western governments.
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The organization reviewed a series of research papers published in academic journals that were co-authored by students, researchers, or faculty at each of the five universities, along with people from the Iranian Aerospace Research Institute, Iran University of Science and Technology, and the Sharif University of Technology.
The Aerospace Research Institute is the only entity that is directly sanctioned by the U.S. government, according to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The letters sent to the universities allege that Clarkson and Virginia Tech both collaborated with ARI on two separate research papers.
But the nonprofit says that the Iran University of Science and Technology is a “consortium” of several Iranian academic institutions that includes Malek Ashtar University of Technology, which was sanctioned by the U.S. government for its role in assisting in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Similarly, Sharif University, while not sanctioned by the U.S., according to OFAC’s database, has been sanctioned by the EU and the United Kingdom.
Virginia Tech, Worcester Polytechnic, and UL Lafayette all told the Washington Examiner that their actions were entirely legal and had not sidestepped any federal sanctions. Clarkson University and the University of Washington said they were looking into the matter.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, a spokesman for Virginia Tech said, “The university’s Office of Sponsored Research has never entered into a contact with Aerospace Research Institute in Iran.”
A spokesperson for UL Lafayette likewise said the collaborative work of electrical and computer engineering professor Afef Fekih with people from the Iran University of Science and Technology was “with researchers at a university that is not a sanctioned entity.”
“The University does not collaborate with sanctioned entities,” the spokesperson said.
At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a spokesperson said a research paper from two students in collaboration with researchers at the Iran University of Science and Technology was submitted before either student came to the institute in 2021.
“We can confirm that there is no collaboration or partnership of any kind between the two institutions,” the institute said. “To our knowledge, we can also confirm that no individuals associated with WPI are collaborating with anyone associated with the Iran University of Science and Technology.”
Clarkson University told the Washington Examiner it was institutional policy to “comply with all U.S. export and sanction requirements” and that the school “take[s] compliance seriously” and is “looking into this matter.”
University of Washington spokeswoman Michelle Ma told the Washington Examiner the university was aware of allegations that Mohammad Reza Soltani, an affiliate faculty member of the university, had been involved with the Sharif University and was investigating the matter. Ma noted that Soltani’s primary employment is “with another institution.”
“The UW is dedicated to complying with all U.S. regulations governing international research collaborations, with the goal of mitigating our inherent vulnerabilities as an academic institution to ongoing and emerging threats to our national security, while preserving our ability to engage internationally,” Ma said.
United Against a Nuclear Iran Research Director Daniel Roth told the Washington Examiner that the appearance of collaboration between the schools and the Iranian institutions was a “big red flag.” Roth’s organization is led by former U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman.
“We’re very much interested in stopping any kind of pipelines that might provide the [Iranian] regime with technology, whether it’s missiles, whether it’s drones,” Roth said, noting that the research papers in question were primarily engineering focused. “But more broadly, we think that stopping the economic lifeline is a very effective way of preventing and stymieing the regime in all its nefarious actions.”
Roth said collaborating with sanctioned Iranian institutions would potentially be illegal, but he also acknowledged that the universities could have a reasonable explanation for the perceived collaboration.
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“I do believe that there is strong possibility that this would be illegal, and in the absence of these universities giving their explanation, that’s kind of what I’m going with at the moment,” Roth said.
Only Clarkson and Washington University responded to the nonprofit organization’s initial December letters, with both schools telling the organization they were looking into the matter.
