Iran Satellite Launch Ends in Disappointment

By Amir Havasi

Iran said it "successfully" launched a satellite Sunday but failed to put it into orbit, in a blow to its space programme that the US alleges is a cover for missile development.

The attempted launch of the Zafar—"Victory" in Persian—comes days before the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and crucial parliamentary elections in Iran.

Arch foes Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past seven months.

Long-standing acrimony between Tehran and Washington was exacerbated in 2018 when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that froze Iran's nuclear programme, before issuing new demands that Tehran curtail its development of ballistic missiles.

Washington has also raised concerns in the past about Tehran's satellite programme, saying the launch of a carrier rocket in January 2019 amounted to a violation of limits on its ballistic missiles.

Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, and says its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with a UN Security Council resolution.

On Sunday, it launched the Zafar satellite at 7:15 pm (1545 GMT) but it fell short of reaching orbit, the defence ministry said.

A ministry spokesman said initially that the satellite was "successfully" launched and went "90 percent of the way", reaching an altitude of 540 kilometres (335 miles).

"The Simorgh (rocket) successfully propelled the Zafar satellite into space," said Ahmad Hosseini of the ministry's space unit.

"Unfortunately, in the final moments the carrier did not reach the required speed" to put it into orbit, he told state television.

"God willing with improvements made in future launches this part of the mission will be done as well," he added.

"We achieved most of the goals we had and data has been acquired, and in the near future, by analysing the data, we will take the next steps."

Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi admitted in an English-language tweet soon after that the launch had "failed".

"But We're UNSTOPPABLE! We have more Upcoming Great Iranian Satellites!" said Jahromi.

Tweeting in Farsi, he added: "I would have liked to make you happy with #good_news but sometimes life does not go the way we want it."

'New Generation'

Iran on Sunday also unveiled a new a short-range ballistic missile and its "new generation" of engines designed to put satellites into space.

The Revolutionary Guards' website said the Raad-500 missile was equipped with new Zoheir engines made of composite materials that make them lighter than previous steel models.

It also unveiled Salman engines made of the same materials but with a "movable nozzle" for the delivery of satellites into space, allowing "manoeuvrability beyond the atmosphere".

In January 2019, Tehran announced that its Payam—"Message" in Farsi—satellite had failed to reach orbit, after authorities said they launched it to collect data on the environment in Iran.

The United States said the launch of the carrier rocket was a violation of a 2015 UN Security Council resolution endorsing the international accord on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme.

Resolution 2231 called on Iran to refrain from any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Cyber Attacks

Tehran confirmed in September that an explosion had taken place at one of its satellite launch pads due to a technical fault, and slammed Trump for "gleefully" tweeting about it at the time.

Trump said the US had nothing to do with what he called a "catastrophic accident" at Semnan Space Centre, also tweeting a high-resolution picture pointing to apparent damage at the site.

Sunday's developments come at a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, after a January 3 US drone strike killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Iran retaliated days later by firing a wave of missiles at American troops stationed in Iraq.

Its defence forces had been braced for US retaliation when they accidentally shot down a Ukraine International Airlines flight a few minutes after take-off from Tehran on January 8.

Iran says its internet services have faced cyber attacks for the past two days, without elaborating on the source of the attack or the likely motives.

The country's on-off space programme unsettles some Western nations as the technology used in space-bound rockets can also be used in ballistic missiles.

The Islamic republic has successfully launched several satellites since February 2009.

It has also sent monkeys, a turtle, mouse and worms into space.

Photo: IRNA

US Sanctions Iran Minister Over Internet Censorship

The US Treasury slapped punitive sanctions on Iran's communications minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Friday after Tehran blocked internet communications amid violent protests triggered by a petrol price hike.

"We are sanctioning Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology for restricting internet access, including to popular messaging applications that help tens of millions of Iranians stay connected to each other and the outside world," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement.

"Iran's leaders know that a free and open internet exposes their illegitimacy, so they seek to censor internet access to quell anti-regime protests," Mnuchin said.

The protests erupted across the country on November 15, after the price of petrol was raised by as much as 200 percent.

Officials have confirmed five deaths, while Amnesty International said that more than 100 demonstrators were believed to have been killed after authorities reportedly used live ammunition to quell the protests, which brought attacks on police stations and petrol stations and some looting of shops.

The Treasury said Azari Jahomi is a former official of the Ministry of Intelligence who has “been involved in surveillance against opposition activists," the Treasury said.

Internet service remained mostly blocked on Friday for a sixth day, with officials and news agencies saying the blackout was gradually being rolled back.

The sanctions would freeze financial assets and property Azari Jahomi has in US jurisdictions and forbid Americans or US businesses, especially banks, from dealing with him.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump accused Iran of blocking the internet to cover up "death and tragedy" resulting from the protests.

"Iran has become so unstable that the regime has shut down their entire Internet System so that the Great Iranian people cannot talk about the tremendous violence taking place within the country," Trump tweeted.

"They want ZERO transparency, thinking the world will not find out the death and tragedy that the Iranian Regime is causing!" he wrote.

Photo: IRNA

Iran President Defends Telecom Minister Against Judiciary

Iran President Hassan Rouhani on Monday brushed off attacks against his telecom minister over charges of failing to create a "safe environment" in social media and leaving Iranian data vulnerable to espionage, state television reported.

According to the judiciary, 2,000 people in the southwestern city of Ahvaz and the general prosecutor's office have lodged a complaint against the minister, Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi.

"Someone in the judiciary says they'll lodge a complaint against a young minister. Well, he is not at all intimidated and is doing his job," said Rouhani, without naming the minister.

“Ok, then, lodge a complaint! The young minister is working for the benefit of the people and pays no heed to pointless orders," he added defiantly.

A "lack of safe space" in social media has "drawn (young people) to Takfiri (jihadist) groups and eventually led to (last year's) terrorist incident at the armed forces parade," a cyberspace official at the prosecutor's office, Javad Javidnia, told semi-official news agency ISNA.

Back in September 2018 in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, in Khuzestan province bordering Iraq, gunmen killed at least 24 people as they opened fire on the military parade.

Javidnia said a complaint had also been lodged against the managers of Telegram and Instagram.

Iran has in the past blocked access to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and the judiciary blocked the Telegram messaging app in May.

The judiciary has also accused Azari-Jahromi, at 37 the youngest member of Rouhani's cabinet, of leaving Iran's "big data" vulnerable to access by its enemies, which enables them to commit "internet espionage".

"Foreigners can analyze this data and use it to disrupt the country's security and stability," Javidnia told ISNA.

The judiciary has frequently clashed with the telecom minister.

In January, Azari-Jahromi opposed a mulled ban on the photo- and video-sharing application Instagram, saying it would only create new problems for the Islamic republic.

Despite restrictions, top Iranians officials like Rouhani and the minister himself use services such as Twitter, which are widely accessible via proxy servers.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran IT Minister Says Blocking Instagram Would Create New Problems

Iran's information technology minister said Tuesday that blocking the photo- and video-sharing application Instagram would only create new problems for the Islamic republic.

"We believe the strategy of filtering Instagram is not an efficient one to neutralize its threats and might even intensify them," Mohammad-Javad Azari-Jahromi told ISNA news agency on the sidelines of a conference on electronic banking in Tehran.

“Acting unilaterally and filtering will not solve any problems on its own, but will only cause challenges in other fields," he said.

In January, Iranian media said the judiciary was mulling a ban on Instagram.

The deputy for cyberspace affairs at the public prosecutor's office, Javad Javidnia, has called Instagram a "disaster" for Iranians and especially its youth, charging the app was being used for "crimes.”

"Some says that using Instagram has consequences and that it poses threats, yet many believe that it hosts many businesses and is an important tool in their everyday life," said Azari-Jahromi.

Iran's economy is suffering under US sanctions reimposed after Washington withdrew in May from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Iran has in recent years blocked access to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and the judiciary blocked the Telegram messaging app in May.

Instagram remains the last major platform not blocked in the Islamic republic.

Despite the restrictions, Iranians including top officials like President Hassan Rouhani and the IT minister use services such as Twitter, which are widely accessible via proxy servers.

Photo Credit: IRNA