Prague/Zlín - The Czech Republic is in the focus of its Western allies due to a possible infringement of international security treaties aimed at states that can pose a global threat.

Two students from Iran are enrolled at the University of Tomáš Baťa in Zlín where they both study polymers.

However, resolutions of the UN Security Council and the Council of EU prohibit people coming from states such as Iran or North Korea from enrolling in Master's and higher university programs with technical focus, in order to prevent them from learning information that could be used to develop military technologies.

Those who violate these restrictions may be not only fined, but also prosecuted for infringing international accords, says the Czech Education Ministry.

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The Iranians were invited by Petr Sáha, a pro-rector and former head of the university in Zlín, who asked the ministry for an exemption in October 2010. However, although he has officially not received it yet, Aktuálně.cz has learned that the students are already studying at the university.

Sáha is convinced that the Iranian students should be exempted from the sanctions. "The University of Tomáš Baťa focuses above all on programs of chemistry and materials technology, which are not in collision with valid sanctions," Sáha explained in his appeal.

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The Education Ministry delegated the issue to the State Office for Nuclear Security, said the ministry's spokesman Ondřej Gabriel. After a few months, the office ruled that the enrollment of the Iranian students at the University of Tomáš Baťa "is not in conflict with the national and international law and legal obligations of the Czech Republic". „The ministry is going to inform the university about the State Office for Nuclear Security's decision," said the ministry's spokesman Tomáš Bouška.

Personal disputes

The issue is linked to a conflict between the university's representatives, above all current rector Ignác Hoza and pro-rector Sáha.

After Hoza learned that Sáha had asked the Education Ministry for an exemption without telling him, Sáha was stripped of his authority of statutory representative of the university.

According to Hoza, all the responsibility for the issue of the Iranian students lies on Sáha. „Those are his students, so I expect he has the personal responsibility," Hoza said to Aktuálně.cz.

Pro-rector Sáha only said that the situation at the university is complicated and he would prefer not to deal with it through media.

No US grants

The Iranian affair has already brought some negative effects upon the university. Czech scientific institutions are allowed to use US government grants as a „compensation" for the unrealized anti-ballistic radar project in the Czech Republic.

However, for the schools that violate sanctions there is no way how to use the grants. And it appears that this is precisely the case of the University of Tomáš Baťa in Zlín.