Iran International:

An Iranian man wanted by the United States on terrorism charges worked for Swiss university lab which received state and European Union funding, the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported.

Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, who was at the center of hostage standoff between Italy and Iran earlier this year, worked in a drone research lab funded by European Union and Swiss state innovation agency, NZZ reported.

His activities helped Tehran acquire cutting-edge Western technology for its drone program, the German-language daily wrote.

US authorities issued an arrest warrant last year for Abedini over his alleged role in a drone attack that killed three US Army soldiers in Jordan last year and injured dozens.

The warrant alleged Abedini had ordered highly advanced electromechanical micro-components to Lausanne and smuggled them back to Iran in his luggage.

In 2019, Abedini began research with Swiss Professor Jan Skaloud, a specialist in satellite and inertial navigation, at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL).

“Between 2017 and 2024, the defense company supported a total of nine Skaloud projects,” the NZZ said.

"The topic is autonomous drone navigation without the aid of satellites. At the heart of this project is a laboratory where a suspected Iranian spy works,” it added.

Emmanuel Barraud, an EPFL spokesperson, said the institute did not aid Tehran.

“The NZZ article doesn’t state that EPFL actively helped the Iranian regime in any way," Barraud told Iran International by email.

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