Government should investigate British universities developing Iranian 'suicide drones', says select committee chair

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British Army colonel and chemical weapons expert, told the Telegraph: “I can think of no reason that any British universities should do any research with Iranian universities and if they are collaborating on projects with military applications I am nearly speechless. 

“I assume that government security services and other departments will be fully investigating these claims and acting accordingly if there is substance in these accusations.”

In one project, engineers at a UK university worked with Iranian academics to improve Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology.

The research paper aimed to improve drone engines, boosting their altitude, speed and range.

Another British university worked with Iranian counterparts to test sophisticated new control systems for jet engines, aimed at increasing their “manoeuvrability and response time” in “military applications”.

Kearns said the “horrifying collaboration” could risk breaching sanctions in place around “sensitive and dual-use technologies”. 

She told the JC: “It is quite possible these collaborations are assisting in the gender apartheid within Iran, and its hostile interference and violence across the Middle East or even helping to massacre civilians in Ukraine.”

One of the key pieces of UK-Iran research uncovered by the JC was jointly produced by Ahmad Najjaran Kheirabadi, a researcher at Imperial College, and scientists from Shahrood University of Technology and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

It examined upgrading the lightweight, two-stroke engines used to power drones, including its HESA Shahed 136, which is being used by Russia to attack Ukrainian targets. 

The study examined the advantages of installing a fuel-injection system into such engines, saying the upgraded propulsion system “has benefits such as high power, low fuel consumption… high flight endurance, tolerance of extreme environmental conditions”.

It added: “In the modern world, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely in operation because of their key and important benefits, and they play a role in the military.” 

It continued: “The UAV propulsion is a critical part, and its mission is to overcome the drag to maintain the speed of the UAV and accelerate it, as well as to overcome the gravity to the rising UAV.”

An expert on Iran’s military, Farzin Nadimi, senior fellow at the Washington Institute, said Imperial College’s research could have significant military applications. The 30-horsepower engine discussed in the paper could be used in smaller drones, he said.

Lord Polak, President of Conservative Friends of Israel, told the JC: “It’s clear that the IRGC controls Iran’s drone programmes, and that these weapons are being used by the Russians in Putin’s war on Ukraine. 

"That it has a presence in British universities is yet more evidence — not that any should be needed — that we should have banned the IRGC a long time ago.”

Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the investigation was “deeply troubling” and called on the government to urgently investigate whether sanctions had been breached.

An Imperial College London spokesperson said: “All Imperial research is subject to Imperial’s Ethics Code and we have robust relationship review policies and due diligence processes in place, with our responsibility to UK national security given the utmost importance.”