Iran Test-Launches Rocket Designed to Carry Satellites Move could further inflame tensions with the U.S. By Asa Fitch and Aresu Eqbali
https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-test-launches-rocket-designed-to-carry-satellites-1501177285
Iran successfully test-launched a rocket designed to carry satellites into space on Thursday, official media reported, a move that could further inflame tensions with the U.S. as Congress passes new sanctions on the country.
The test-launch of the rocket, called the Simorgh, or “Phoenix” in Persian, took place at the official opening of a space center around 140 miles east of Tehran, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. The Simorgh can carry satellites weighing up to 250 kilograms into low-earth orbit, it said.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. considers the launch to be in violation of the spirit of a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran.
She also said it violates a United Nations Security Council resolution endorsing the deal, a complaint the U.S. has lodged with respect to other Iranian missile tests. The U.N. resolution in question doesn’t specifically bar missile testing but calls on Iran not to undertake such activities.
U.S. military officials said Thursday that there was no indication that any satellite had been successfully deployed or that the rocket had reached space.
Capt. Brian Maguire, a spokesman for US Strategic Command, said the military tracks more than 24,000 objects in space that are bigger than a softball and that there was “nothing new to add” to the list on Thursday.
While Iran’s satellite launches aren’t part of its ballistic missile program, some of the country’s critics in the West see satellite-carrying rockets as abetting missile development and contrary to the spirit of international agreements. Many of the technologies used in satellite launches have applications in long-range missiles.
The U.S. sees the move as a “provocative action” and as “continued missile development,” Ms. Nauert said.
In an interview earlier this week with The Wall Street Journal, President Donald Trump said he doesn’t expect to find Iran to be in compliance with the nuclear deal when a periodic administration review is due in October, and said he would overrule his aides, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, to declare Iran noncompliant. CONTINUE AT SITE
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