Unlikely for it to be Russia. I’ve heard it said that Epstein was an intelligence operative, meaning he worked for an American agency or an allied nation, neither of which would make him a Russian asset. Factions exist within the American ruling elite that want Russia to be an ally and factions exist that want war with Russia or to see Russia destroyed/contained. Those factions that want containment support the Ukraine war and those that want friendship have been sidelined.

They couldn’t get grant funding, so they decided to go without.

The Iranian nuclear program is an energy program. We know this because independent inspectors were allowed inside the country to verify that they were only making energy. The last time the US claimed a country was developing nuclear weapons, a million Iraqis died and no nukes were found.

The EU never stopped buying Russian oil. They just pay more to buy it from India.