Iran launches rocket into space as nuclear talks are set to resume
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian state television said Sunday that Tehran launched a solid-fueled rocket into space, drawing a rebuke from Washington ahead of the expected resumption of stalled talks over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers.
It’s unclear when or where the rocket was launched, but the announcement came after satellite photos showed preparations at a facility rural Semnan province.
State-run media aired dramatic footage of the blastoff against the backdrop of heightened tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program, which is racing ahead under decreasing international oversight.
Iran had acknowledged that it planned more tests for the satellite-carrying rocket first launched in 2021.
Ahmad Hosseini, spokesman for Iran’s Defense Ministry, said Zuljanah, an 84-foot rocket, was capable of carrying a satellite 485 pounds that would ultimately gather data in low-earth orbit and promote Iran’s space industry. Zuljanah is named for the horse of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
The White House said it was aware of Iran’s announcement and criticized the move as “unhelpful and destabilizing.”
The launch comes just a day after the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, traveled to Tehran in a push to resuscitate negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program that have stalemated for months. A few significant sticking points remain, including Tehran’s demand that Washington lift terrorism sanctions on its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Borrell said talks would resume in an unnamed Persian Gulf country in the coming days, with Iranian media reporting that Qatar would likely host the negotiations.
Tehran’s rocket launches have raised alarm in Washington amid the unraveling of the nuclear deal by then-President Donald Trump in 2018. The U.S. warns the launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Iran to steer clear of any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
The White House on Sunday said it was committed to using sanctions and other measures to prevent further advances in Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Iran maintains its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component.
South Africa deaths: Twenty-one teenagers were found dead early Sunday in a tavern in the South African coastal city of East London, police said.
Initial reports were that the teenagers, who police say ranged in ages from 13 to 17, died in a stampede. But Bheki Cele, the national police minister, said that has not been confirmed.
Unathi Binqose, spokesperson for the Department of Community Safety in the Eastern Cape, said the tavern had hosted a large party Saturday night. It was also billed as a celebration of South Africa’s dropping its mask mandate for public places, Binqose said.
Bouncers told investigators that to control the crowd, they closed the doors to the venue, Binqose said. People outside were said to have tried to push their way in, setting off a stampede, which may have been exacerbated by someone releasing
pepper spray, he said.
But the theory of a stampede seemed inconsistent with what forensic experts had found, Binqose said. Victims were found sprawled on the gray tile floor, but also on a sofa and a coffee table.
Gas prices fall: The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline fell by 4 cents per gallon in the past two weeks to $5.05 for regular grade.
It was the first drop in nine weeks and came with a drop in oil prices amid deepening global inflation fears, industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday, adding that “consumers will likely see further declines in coming days.”
Nationwide, the highest average price for regular-grade gas was in the San Francisco Bay Area, at $6.39 per gallon. The lowest average was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at $4.39 per gallon.
WWII shipwreck: A U.S. Navy destroyer that engaged a
superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers.
The USS Samuel B. Roberts, also known as the “Sammy B,” was identified Wednesday broken into two pieces at a depth 22,916 feet.
That puts it 1,400 feet deeper than the USS Johnston, the previous deepest wreck discovered last year in the Philippine Sea also by American explorer Victor Vescovo, founder of Dallasbased Caladan Oceanic Expeditions.
The Sammy B. took part in the Battle off Samar, the final phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944.
According to some records, the destroyer disabled a Japanese heavy cruiser with a torpedo and significantly damaged another. After having spent virtually all its ammunition, she was hit by the lead battleship Yamato and sank.
Of a 224-man crew, 120 were saved.
Norway shooting: The suspect in a mass shooting during an LGBTQ festival in Norway has refused to explain his actions to investigators and will remain in pretrial custody for the next four weeks, police said Sunday.
The man, described by authorities as a 42-yearold Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, was arrested shortly after the shooting in Oslo’s nightlife district early Saturday. He is being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and terrorism.
Two people were killed and more than 20 were injured in what the Norwegian security service called an “Islamist terror act.”
Oslo police said they tried to question the suspect Saturday and again Sunday without success.
The gunman opened fire at three locations, including outside the London Pub, a popular gay bar in Oslo.
Police investigators said it was too early to say whether the attacker specifically
targeted the LGBTQ community.
Israeli politics: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett convened what is likely his last Cabinet meeting as premier Sunday, with parliament expected to dissolve itself this week, triggering new elections in the fall.
Bennett’s decision to head to elections — the fifth in the country in the last three years — ends an ambitious political project that united eight ideologically disparate parties that chose to put aside their differences to oust former leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
At the meeting, Bennett listed accomplishments under his year-old government and thanked his coalition partners, which included dovish parties that support Palestinian statehood, nationalist ones who don’t, and for the first time in Israeli history, an Arab political faction.
Bennett is set to hand over the premiership to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.