According to the news in the Iranian local press, Tehran launched a rocket carrying a satellite into space with 3 different devices on Thursday. This action, taken in the midst of ongoing negotiations with the United States, is said to anger Washington. Because previous rocket launches, including several failed attempts, have drawn heavy criticism from the United States.
Iran shows that it is not withdrawing from the space race
Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hosseini told state television:
The satellite-carrying Simorgh rocket successfully launched three devices into space. For the first time, three devices were launched simultaneously at a speed of 7,350 meters per second to a distance of 470 kilometers (292 miles).
The successful launch by the Islamic Republic’s civilian space program has been confirmed by the Iranian ministry of defense, while it remains unclear whether the rocket has reached orbit. Also, the country’s highly effective and powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guards conducted a successful satellite launch into orbit last year as part of their parallel space program.
But the rocket launch this time came during ongoing negotiations in Vienna on the possibility of reviving the Iran nuclear deal. It was then said that the decision to hold the event amid the already difficult negotiations is typical of the rigid government in Tehran.
President Ebrahim Raisi, who succeeded the more moderate Hassan Rouhani at the beginning of 2021, is seen closer to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and more distrustful of the United States and other western powers. The nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in official sources, was first signed in 2015 by the EU, China and Russia, as well as Iran and the USA.
Under the deal, Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. However, former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and reinstated harsh sanctions. Since then, Iran has reportedly moved beyond the limits set in the JCPOA on uranium enrichment.
The current Biden administration is trying to return to the deal. But efforts are said to have been inconclusive so far, in part because of the government in Tehran, which is stricter than its predecessor and wants assurances that the United States will not abandon the agreement again in a few years.
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