A Financial Times investigation unveiled that an Iranian company claimed to possess Western-origin nuclear-related technology, which highlights how Iran continues to adapt its procurement network to advance its nuclear program despite sanctions. The Financial Times reported on November 25 that an Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) front company, Imen Gostar Raman Kish, claimed that it uses US and European equipment in some of its products.[1] The SPND played a leading role in Iran's nuclear weapons research program before 2003.[2] Imen Gostar Raman Kish said that it uses radiation-detection tubes from United Kingdom-based company Centronic and components from United States-based company Elijen Technology for its radiation-detection devices.[3] The Financial Times stated that there is no evidence that Elijen or Centronic were aware that they sold technology to Iranian entities.[4] The United States sanctioned Imen Gostar Raman Kish’s chairperson and vice chairperson in October 2025 for contributing to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.[5] Imen Gostar Raman Kish’s chief executive, Javad Ghasemi, was part of an Iranian delegation that secretly traveled to Russia in August 2024 to visit Russian research institutes specializing in dual-use technologies that can be used in nuclear weapons development.[6] A second Iranian delegation traveled to Russia in November 2024, possibly to seek “laser technology and expertise that could help [Iran] validate a nuclear weapon design without conducting a nuclear explosive test,” according to a former CIA analyst speaking to the Financial Times.[7]
Iran has made minimal progress in repairing its three main nuclear sites that were damaged during the Israel-Iran War but has conducted “extensive” clean-up efforts at several nuclear weaponization sites, according to satellite imagery analyzed by the Institute for Science and International Security.The sites where Iran has conducted clean-up activities include:
Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) Headquarters, Tehran City: Iran is demolishing the top floors of the SPND headquarters on Fakhrizadeh Street, according to satellite imagery taken on October 23.[10] The Institute added that there are piles of rubble and salvaged equipment around the headquarters. Israel launched several airstrikes targeting the headquarters’ main building in June 2025.[11]
Shahid Meisami Research Center, Alborz Province: The Institute reported that Iran has cleaned up several damaged buildings at the Shahid Meisami Research Center, according to satellite imagery taken on October 21.[12] The Institute assessed that the clean-up efforts may be a “possible prelude to rebuilding” the center.[13] The Shahid Meisami Group is an Iranian chemical engineering and research group that is involved in Iran's chemical weapons program and is a subsidiary of SPND.[14] Israel launched airstrikes during the war that targeted a small building in the southwest of the Shahid Meisami complex that was likely used as a laboratory or administrative center.[15] Israel also struck a nearby hangar-looking building.[16] The hangar-looking building's “high bay metal frame” remains intact, and Iran has collected piles of debris next to it.[17] Israeli intelligence previously assessed that the hangar-looking building housed “plastic explosives and advanced material for nuclear detonation testing.”[18]
CTP-ISW previously reported that Iran has conducted limited clean-up and rebuilding activities at other nuclear sites, including Lavisan 2 (Mojdeh) and Taleghan 2.[19] Iran has also continued construction at the Mount Kolang Gaz La Facility near Natanz following the war.[20] The Institute assessed that Iran has conducted “little activity” at Iran's main nuclear sites — Natanz, Fordow, and the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center — since the war.[21]
Iranian media outlets affiliated with hardliners and pragmatic hardliners are spreading rumors about fissures within President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration amid ongoing efforts by these political factions to increase their influence in the regime. Some hardline outlets have recently circulated reports claiming that First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref resigned due to disagreements with Pezeshkian. Media outlets affiliated with pragmatic hardliner Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, including Sobh-e No and Khorasan, are amplifying rumors about Aref’s reported resignation.[22] Sobh-e No claimed on November 19 that Aref resigned because the Pezeshkian administration was making major decisions without coordinating with him.[23] Khorasan claimed that Aref resigned due to “structural incoherence” between Aref, Pezeshkian’s Chief of Staff, Ali Haji Mirzaei, and Vice President for Executive Affairs Jafar Ghaem Panah.[24] These reports come as different factions within the Iranian regime, including a faction centered around Ghalibaf, are fighting for influence in Iran to determine Iranian policy after the Israel-Iran War.
https://understandingwar.org/research/middle-east/iran-update-november-26-2025/
Iranian officials have dismissed reports that Iran seeks Saudi Arabia to mediate between Iran and the United States on the Iranian nuclear issue. Reuters reported on November 20 that Iran asked Saudi Arabia to persuade the United States to “revive stalled nuclear talks,” according to two unspecified regional sources.[31] Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered a speech on November 27 in which he dismissed “rumors” that the Iranian government had sent a message to the United States through an intermediary country as a “pure lie.”[32] Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi also denied reports during an interview with French media on November 26 that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s recent letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman “had anything to do with” the nuclear issue or US-Iran talks.[33] Araghchi expressed “full confidence” in Saudi Arabia as a partner for regional stability but claimed that “US behavior” is the sole obstacle for nuclear talks rather than a lack of mediators.[34] The Iranian judiciary filed a case against a former Iranian parliamentarian on November 25 for alleging that President Pezeshkian, with Khamenei’s approval, had sent a message to US President Donald Trump through Salman to restart nuclear negotiations.[35] Unspecified Western sources also told Hezbollah-affiliated media on November 25 that Trump gave Salman a “mandate” to mediate a US-Iran agreement.[36] Unspecified sources told anti-regime media on November 28 that the United States recently reiterated its three conditions to restart negotiations in response to Pezeshkian’s letter to Salman.[37] These conditions include zero enrichment, limitations on Iran's missile program, and a halt to Iranian support for the Axis of Resistance.[38] US-Iran nuclear negotiations previously stalled, mainly because Iran consistently rejected the US demand for zero Iranian uranium enrichment.[39] Iranian officials have repeatedly stated that Iran will only negotiate on the nuclear issue and will not expand negotiations to include Iran's missile program or the Axis of Resistance.[40]
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reportedly ordered the Iranian Intelligence Ministry to crack down on individuals who violate Iran's mandatory hijab law, according to an Iranian religious propaganda official on November 25.[41] Khamenei reportedly issued this directive after being “shocked” by an Intelligence Ministry report on women's use of the hijab in Iranian society. The report presumably highlighted that Iranian women are increasingly flouting the mandatory hijab law, a trend that has become more prevalent since the Mahsa Amini movement in late 2022 and early 2023.[42] Iranian hardliners, including Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, support stricter enforcement of the mandatory hijab law.[43] A large group of individuals, most of whom were women, attended a demonstration organized by the Islamic Propaganda Organization in support of hijab enforcement at Tehran University on November 28.[44] The Islamic Propaganda Council is responsible for spreading and implementing the Iranian regime's religious propaganda.[45] Moderates, including current President Masoud Pezeshkian, have been reluctant to enforce the mandatory hijab law out of concern that it may spark social unrest similar to the Mahsa Amini protests in 2022 and 2023.[46]
https://understandingwar.org/research/middle-east/iran-update-november-28-2025/