Iran’s president reappoints UN-sanctioned, US-educated official as nuclear head
- Mohammad Eslami, who will serve as one of several vice-presidents, was sanctioned in 2008 for his association with Iran’s nuclear programme
Iran’s newly-elected president reappointed a US-educated official who came under United Nations sanctions 16 years ago as head of the country’s nuclear department, state television reported on Saturday.
Mohammad Eslami, 67, will continue his work as chief of Iran’s civilian nuclear programme and serve as one of several vice presidents. Eslami’s reappointment by President Masoud Pezeshkian comes as Iran remains under heavy sanctions by the West following the collapse of the 2015 deal that curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
The United Nations sanctioned Eslami in 2008 for “being engaged in, directly associated with or providing support for Iran’s proliferation of sensitive nuclear activities or for the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems,” when he was the head of Iran’s Defense Industries Training and Research Institute.
He was appointed as the chief of Iran’s nuclear department for the first time by late President Ebrahim Raisi in 2021. From 2018 in moderate former President Hassan Rouhani’s era, Eslami served as Transport and Urban Development Minister.
He has experience working in Iran’s military industries for years, most recently as deputy defence minister responsible for research and industry.
