Confrontation with USA, Iran launches satellite
Tehran. Tehran’s space program was exposed amidst ongoing tension between the US and Iran, which experts had called confidential for years. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday 22 April that it had put the country’s first military satellite into orbit. There has been no independent confirmation of the launch of the satellite immediately. The Revolutionary Guard has named this satellite Noor.
The US State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately comment on this. The launch, however, raised concerns among experts about whether the technology used in it would help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The launch comes at a time when relations between the two countries are under stress over the nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington and the killing of top Iranian general Qasim Suleimani in the US drone strike in January. At a time when the world is reeling from the Corona virus epidemic and oil prices have historically fallen, the launch of the missile could be a sign of Iran’s readiness to take risks.
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Fabian Heinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, said that when maximum pressure is exerted, Iran no longer has much to lose. The guard said on its official website that the satellite reached an orbit located 425 km above the Earth’s surface. The Guard called it the first military satellite launched by Tehran. He said that the three-phase satellite was launched from Iran’s Central Desert. He did not give any detailed information about this.
