January 22, 2025 | Policy Brief

Russia Touts Illicit Nuclear Work in Iran

January 22, 2025 | Policy Brief

Russia Touts Illicit Nuclear Work in Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted about Russian civil nuclear work in Iran that runs afoul of U.S. law, but which the Biden administration failed to penalize, at a press conference in Moscow on January 21.

Speaking alongside visiting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian following the signing of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership treaty, Putin stated that the “flagship joint project for the construction of two new units of the Bushehr nuclear power plant by Rosatom is making strides.” The CEO of the Rosatom nuclear corporation, Alexei Likhachev, also spoke, underscoring that joint work is continuing “despite the sanctions and pressure.”

Iran’s first Russian-built reactor at Bushehr came online in 2011. A Rosatom subsidiary, ASE, has been building two additional units that are expected to produce electrical power by 2026. Russia’s contract to build the two new Bushehr units is reportedly worth some $10 billion, while Tehran owes Moscow some $500 million for past work. During the press conference, Putin and Likhachev also discussed Russia’s plans to build additional reactors in Iran.

Sanctionable Activity Under U.S. Law

The Iran Freedom and Counterproliferation Act of 2013 prohibits the “sale, supply or transfer of certain materials to and from Iran” related to the regime’s nuclear, military, and ballistic missile programs and allows the president to submit sanctions waivers every 180 days containing exemptions based on national security reasons. Absent a waiver, the president is obliged to sanction foreign individuals and financial institutions that violate the act.

The Obama administration issued waivers for certain Russian nuclear work in Iran as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, and upon taking office, the first Trump administration ended U.S. participation in the deal and the waivers. The Biden administration restored the waivers soon after taking office to help restart Iran talks and restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — the technical name for the deal.

Biden Administration Failed to Act

In February 2023, following the collapse of talks with Iran — and one year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the Biden administration informed Congress it was declining to renew waivers for Russia’s work on the two new Bushehr units. The administration cited the need to “not accommodate[e] activities related to the construction of new reactor units at Bushehr that would expand Iran’s nuclear program and further deepen cooperation between Iran and Russia at a time that Iran is providing lethal aid to Russia for use in its illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

However, the administration continued to dodge questions from Congress about how it planned to enforce U.S. law and ultimately declined to act.

Trump Administration Should Enforce the Law

Rosatom continues raking in record amounts of revenue from foreign nuclear exports and reactor deals amid the ongoing Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, Iran aims to dramatically expand its use of nuclear power and has actively advanced its uranium enrichment and illicit nuclear weaponization efforts while refusing to comply with a legal nonproliferation obligation to disclose key nuclear work to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In particular, the IAEA reports that Tehran has failed to provide early notification of plans and design information for new nuclear facilities such as reactors.

The Biden administration and the United Kingdom were also concerned that Russia-Iran cooperation may extend to nuclear weapons given Moscow and Tehran’s closer ties.

While the Biden administration hesitated to sanction Rosatom as a whole, the second Trump administration should do exactly that to bolster U.S. penalties against Russia to secure an end to the invasion of Ukraine. The administration must also restore maximum economic sanctions against Tehran for its nuclear advances and nonproliferation violations.

Andrea Stricker is a research fellow and deputy director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Andrea on X @StrickerNonpro. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.

Issues:

Issues:

Energy Iran Iran Global Threat Network Iran Nuclear Nonproliferation Russia

Topics:

Topics:

Iran Tehran Russia Barack Obama Washington United Kingdom Joe Biden Donald Trump United States Congress Ukraine Moscow Vladimir Putin International Atomic Energy Agency Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Masoud Pezeshkian Bushehr Rosatom