(Tehran) Iran said on Thursday it had launched a rocket carrying three space research devices into space, a project likely to garner condemnation in the West as nuclear talks are underway.
“The Simorgh satellite launcher sent three research devices into space,” said Ahmad Hosseini, spokesperson for the Iranian Defense Ministry’s space unit as quoted by state television.
Television briefly showed footage of a rocket firing from a desert location, praising “another achievement by Iranian scientists.”
“The research objectives planned for this launch have been achieved,” Hosseini said without giving further details. “This was a preliminary launch and we will have operational launches in the near future,” he promised.
Local media did not say where Thursday’s launch took place. US media, citing experts and satellite images, said earlier in December that the Islamic Republic was preparing to launch a rocket from the Semnan space center, some 300 km east of Tehran.
Ongoing talks
Thursday’s announcement comes as negotiations to save the Iran nuclear deal concluded in 2015 were relaunched at the end of November after a five-month hiatus between Tehran and countries still party to the pact (France, United Kingdom, Germany , Russia, China).
The talks aim to bring the United States, which left the agreement in 2018 and reinstated sanctions against Iran, back to the deal. The United States is participating in the negotiations indirectly.
The agreement, validated by UN Security Council resolution 2231, enjoins Tehran “not to carry out any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be able to carry nuclear charges, including fire using ballistic missile technology” .
Tehran announced in February that it had tested a new satellite launcher equipped with its “most powerful” solid fuel engine.
According to the Pentagon and satellite images from the Semnan Space Center, Iran had attempted in mid-June to launch a satellite into space, without success. Tehran for its part had denied the failure of the launch.
In February 2020, Iran had failed to put into orbit a scientific observation satellite, dubbed Zafar (“Victory” in Persian). Its launch was condemned by Paris and Washington, who accused Tehran of wanting to strengthen its skills in the field of ballistic missiles through the launch of satellites.
Two months later, in April 2020, the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, launched their first military satellite.
The United States then considered that this launch proved that the Iranian space program was intended for military rather than commercial purposes.
Westerners suspect Iran of seeking to develop, using the technology of its satellite launchers, long-range ballistic launchers capable of carrying conventional or nuclear charges.
Affirming that it has no intention of acquiring atomic weapons, Tehran assures that its ballistics and space programs do not run counter to resolution 2231.