Iran Launches Military Satellite Amid US Tensions

By Ahmad Parhizi

Iran said it put its first military satellite into orbit Wednesday, making it an emerging "world power", as the US issued new threats amid rising naval tensions in the Persian Gulf.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hailed the launch as a milestone despite repeated US allegations that the space programme is a cover to develop ballistic missiles.

"Today, we are looking at the Earth from the sky, and it is the beginning of the formation of a world power," the Guards' commander Hossein Salami said, quoted by Fars news agency.

Tensions between the United States and Iran escalated again last week with Washington accusing its arch-foe of harassing its ships in the Persian Gulf.

US President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to say he had "instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea".

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged that the satellite launch proved US charges that Iran's space programme was for military rather than commercial purposes.

"I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what they've done," Pompeo told reporters in Washington.

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.

Sepahnews, the Revolutionary Guards' website, said the satellite dubbed the Nour—meaning "light" in Persian—had been launched from the Markazi desert, a vast expanse in Iran's central plateau.

The satellite "orbited the Earth at 425 kilometres (264 miles)" above sea level, said Sepahnews.

Iran's regional rival Israel said it "strongly condemns" what it called Iran's "attempt" to launch a military satellite.

It urged more international sanctions for what it called "a facade" for Iran's continued development of advanced missiles, including ones that could deliver a nuclear warhead.

David Norquist, the US deputy defence secretary, said the Iranian launch "went a very long way".

The range "means it has the ability once again to threaten their neighbours, our allies. And we want to make sure they can never threaten the United States," he told reporters.

'Great National Achievement'

Iranian state television aired footage from multiple angles of a rocket blasting off into a mostly clear blue sky.

The rocket bore the name Qassed, meaning "messenger", in what appears to be the first time Iran has used a launcher of this type.

Its fuselage also bore a Koranic inscription that read: "Glory be to God who made this available to us, otherwise we could not have done it."

There was no way to independently verify the details and timing of the reported launch.

Iran's Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi took to Twitter to congratulate the Guards' air force, adding he had visited the launch site three weeks ago.

"They were great," he said, describing the satellite as a "three-stage solid fuel" launcher.

Iran has repeatedly tried and failed to launch satellites in the past.

The most recent attempt was on February 9 when it said it launched but was unable to put into orbit the Zafar, which means "victory" in Persian.

High-Seas Encounter

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

Their long-standing acrimony was exacerbated in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew from a multilateral deal that froze Iran's nuclear programme.

Tensions escalated again in January when the US killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Guards' foreign operations arm, in a drone strike in Iraq.

The Pentagon last week accused Iran of "dangerous and provocative" actions in the Persian Gulf.

It said 11 Guards boats "repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns" of US vessels in international waters.

Iran said the US gave a "Hollywood" account of the encounter and warned that any "miscalculation will receive a decisive response.”

The Islamic republic, battling one of the world's deadliest novel coronavirus outbreaks at the same time as dealing with crippling US sanctions, has accused Washington of "economic terrorism.”

Tehran says the punitive measures have denied it access to medical equipment needed to fight the virus.

Iran has declared that the disease has claimed the lives of nearly 5,400 people and infected almost 86,000 since the outbreak emerged on February 19, but observers believe the numbers to be significantly higher.

Pompeo said the satellite launch showed Iran was disingenuous when it requested a $5 billion emergency loan to battle the virus from the International Monetary Fund, where the United States holds an effective veto.

"I would hope that the Iranian regime will respond to the Iranian people's demands to prioritize resources—resources that the Iranian regime clearly has."

Photo: YJC

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

Iran Satellite in US Row Fails to Reach Orbit

Iran launched a satellite criticized by the United States as a breach of a UN resolution on Tuesday but it failed to reach orbit, the telecommunications minister said.

Iran's arch foe Israel swiftly condemned the launch, which it charged was cover for the testing of the first stage of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"The Payam satellite was successfully launched this morning with the Safir satellite carrier," Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi told state television.

"But the satellite unfortunately failed to be placed in orbit in the final stage."

The Payam (Message in Persian) and its launch vehicle had gone through successful testing of its first and second stages, the minister said.

But in the actual launch, the satellite failed to reach the required speed on detachment from the rocket in the third stage.

Both the Payam and its carrier were designed and produced at Tehran's Amirkabir University of Technology.

University head Ahmad Motamedi said Amirkabir had already received an order for a replacement, Mehr news agency reported.

Iran also plans to launch another low Earth orbit satellite, the Doosti (Friendship in Persian), Jahromi said.

He did not give a date for the launch but said the satellite was intended to orbit the earth at an altitude of 250 kilometres (156 miles).

"We will do our best to place it in the orbit," he said.

Iran has said repeatedly that its space program, like its wider ballistic missile programme, is for scientific research and defense purposes only. 

The Payam and the Doosti were both designed to gather information on environmental change in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday.

"The satellite will give us all the information we need, and we will prove to the world that we are a country of science," Rouhani said.

But Israel and its US ally both claim the space program is cover for the development of longer-range ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

"Iran is lying now that it launched an innocent satellite to space," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the abortive launch.

"It actually wants to achieve the first stage of an intercontinental missile, in violation of all international agreements," he told a ceremony in Tel Aviv for the investiture of new armed forces chief of staff, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi.

"We fully support the United State's firm objection to this act of aggression," he added.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran's plans to send satellites into orbit would violate the UN Security Council resolution that endorsed a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Tehran.

Tehran reined in most of its nuclear program under the deal, since abandoned by Washington last year, but has continued to develop its ballistic missile and rocket technology. 

Security Council Resolution 2231 calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles designed to be capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, but does not specifically bar Tehran from missile or rocket launches.

Washington says the space launches violate the resolution.

Iran's satellite-delivery rockets use technology "virtually identical" to nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, Pompeo said on January 3.

“The United States will not stand by and watch the Iranian regime's destructive policies place international stability and security at risk."

Tehran denied the planned launch was a violation of Resolution 2231.

"The satellite is part of a civil project with purely scientific aims, foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told the semi-official ISNA news agency.

"Iran will wait for no country's permission to conduct such scientific projects."

The Payam satellite, first designed over a decade ago, was initially expected to be launched on a foreign-manufactured rocket, project manager Mostafa Safavi told ISNA in an interview published just hours before the launch.

"The Payam is a non-military satellite with a non-military mission but some countries, thinking that it could have a military purpose, showed no enthusiasm for launching Iranian satellites," Safavi said. 

"When they did not cooperate for non-technical reasons, the satellite's specifications were altered and made ready for a domestic launcher," he added.

Iran has launched several short-life  satellites into orbit over the past decade, including the Simorgh and the Pajouhesh.

Photo Credit: IRNA