Iran Sought Nukes, Tech for WMDs, Dutch Reports Find

Iran made several attempts in 2020 to obtain technology needed to develop weapons of mass destruction and has continued its pursuit of atomic weapons, a Dutch intelligence report said.

The General Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands “investigated networks that tried to obtain the knowledge and materials to develop weapons of mass destruction. Multiple acquisition attempts have been frustrated by the intervention of the services,” the April report said.

The report comes on the heels of another last month published by a German intelligence agency that claimed Tehran was seeking European technology in its quest for weapons of mass destruction.

Sweden similarly charged Iran of carrying out industrial espionage in its quest to obtain products that could be used to make nuclear weapons. According to the Dutch report:

The joint Counter-proliferation Unit (UCP) of the AIVD [the General Intelligence and Security Service] and the MIVD [the country’s Military Intelligence and Security Service] is investigating how countries try to obtain the knowledge and goods they need to make weapons of mass destruction. Countries such as Syria, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea also tried to acquire such goods and technology in Europe and the Netherlands last year.

The report did not say whether Iran obtained technology for its nuclear program.

A spokesperson for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News, “The Iranian regime has never stopped seeking weapons of mass destruction to use against America and our allies. Nevertheless, the Biden administration, like the Obama administration, is committed to dismantling all meaningful pressure against the regime and flooding it with hundreds of billions of dollars.

“Sen. Cruz had fought for years to prevent that from happening, and continues to emphasize that any deal with Iran not brought to the Senate as a treaty and passed by the Senate can and will be reversed by a future administration,” the spokesperson added.

The Dutch findings come as the U.S. and Iran hold indirect talks in Vienna to discuss a return to the shattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers from which former president Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.