The Department of Energy (DOE) has funded energy-related research involving scientists from Iranian universities related to the country’s nuclear program.
DOE’s Solar Energy Technology Office (SETO) study About advanced technologies that can contribute to greening the power grid. Mohammad Hassan Ravanji, one of seven researchers credited as authors of the study, said: Professor in electrical engineering from Iran’s Sharif University of Technology (SUT), which has received accreditation from several Western countries due to its promotion of Iran’s nuclear program and its ties to the Iranian military.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers published a study titled “Prospects for grid-forming inverter-based resource research: understanding the critical asset of renewable energy-rich power systems” in Power and Energy Magazine on February 23. did. (Related: Biden’s State Department denies infiltrating Iranian spies before quickly admitting investigation is underway)
“The issue here is that a U.S. federal agency is clearly collaborating with a widely accredited university that is one of the worst actors in Iranian academics,” said United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI). said Daniel Ross, head of research. Daily Caller News Foundation. “Whether or not this was explicitly used to advance Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, it doesn’t matter…this should never have happened in the first place. We’re not talking about literary collaborations; we’re talking about science and technology, which obviously often have dual uses.
American tax dollars should never help arm Iran. pic.twitter.com/HS5AmVp4Wx
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) April 17, 2024
D.O.E. announced In 2021, the company announced it would distribute $25 million in taxpayer funds to fund the Golden, Colorado-based Grid Formation Research Consortium. Several other paper Funded by the same award (No. 38637). document Papers published by DOE-funded consortia also include the award number.
Lavangi was based at STU as a researcher and PhD student from 2013 to 2020, before spending approximately two years at Monash University in Australia. according to on his LinkedIn profile. He then returned to his STU and became an assistant professor in January 2023. This was more than a year before his DOE-supported study was published that recognized his work.
STU is sanctioned in whole or in part by the United States and other Western governments.
In 2012, the Ministry of Finance Added SUT’s Center for Advanced Information and Communication Technology, the university’s Digital Media Lab, and Mobile Value-Added Services Lab were added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list due to their involvement in Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
The EU also authorized The SUT cited “cooperation agreements with Iranian government entities designated by the United Nations and/or the European Union and active in military or military-related fields, particularly in the field of production and procurement of ballistic missiles” related to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. . Furthermore, the British government authorized SUT is absolutely right, but the Canadian government authorized Faculty of Engineering at SUT.
Critics emphasize the importance of SUT to the Iranian regime – Decided It has been labeled by the State Department as one of the world’s leading state sponsors of terrorism and played a role in the country’s decades-long nuclear ambitions. in 1997 report Two researchers from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Research described Iran’s nuclear program in a journal article, calling STU a “central” role in the Iranian regime’s “plan to acquire the ability to enrich uranium for weapons.” He said that it is the “front line in nuclear procurement” that is fulfilling its mission. School year”
Written by UANI letter On March 25, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Director Martin Keller expressed concerns about the award funding given SUT’s known role in Iran’s military-industrial complex. was outlined. At the time of publication, neither official had responded to UANI’s letter.
Additionally, during a hearing held Wednesday by the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Joni Urst, R-Iowa, asked Granholm directly about the award.
“Secretary Granholm, should we give taxpayer funds to U.S.-sanctioned countries and agencies, yes or no?” Ernst asked.
“Through the DOE? No,” Granholm replied.
“Thank you. Because, as you know, the Department of Energy hands out billions of dollars in subsidies and incentives. And in February, a magazine published We published a research article acknowledging the support of “The same article praises the work of Iranian researchers employed at Iran’s state-run Sharif University of Technology. U.S. authorities have sanctioned Sharif University entities for their ties to Iran’s nuclear program. The UK and EU have also sanctioned the university due to similar concerns. So, Secretary Granholm, did this subsidy taxpayer money support Iranian researchers?
Granholm responded, “I don’t know much about this grant, but if you share the article we might be able to follow up,” and Ernst agreed to address the issue in writing.
Ernst is also the sponsor of the Senate version. Tracking Receipts to Adversary Countries for Expenditure Knowledge (TRACKS) ActThis would require accounting for and disclosing all federal funds sent to entities in adversary countries such as China, Iran, and Russia.
The DOE, White House, SUT, and Lavangi did not respond to requests for comment.
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