Revolutionary Guard claims launch of satellite into orbit

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it has launched a military satellite into orbit amid wider tensions with the US.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch of the satellite, which the Guard called “Noor” or light. The US State Department and the Pentagon, as well as Israeli officials, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

However, such a launch immediately raised concerns among experts on whether the technology used could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Already Iran has abandoned all the limitation of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers that US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in 2018.

Mr Trump’s decision set off a months-long series of escalating attacks that culminated in a US drone strike in January that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, followed by Tehran launching ballistic missiles at American soldiers in Iraq.

As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and historically low oil prices, the missile launch may signal a new willingness to take risks by Iran. “This raises a lot of red flags,” said Fabian Hinz, aresearcheratthejamesmartin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. “Now that you have the maximum pressure campaign, Iran doesn’t have that much to lose any more.”

On its official website, the Guard said the satellite successfully reached an orbit of 264 miles above the Earth’s surface. The Guard called it the first military satellite ever launched by Tehran.

The three-stage satellite launch took off from Iran’s Central Desert, the Guard said.

Mr Hinz said based on state media images, the launch appeared to have happened at a previously unnamed Guard base near Shahroud, Iran, some 205 miles north-east of Tehran. The base is in Semnan province, which hosts the Imam Khomeini Spaceport from which Iran’s civilian space programme operates.

The paramilitary force said it used a Ghased satellite carrier to put the device into space, a previously unheard-of system. It described the system as using both liquid and solid fuel.

General Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard, said: “Today, the world’s powerful armies do not have a comprehensive defence plan without being in space, and achieving this superior technology that takes us into space and expands the realm of our abilities is a strategic achievement.” He described the satellite as “multifunctional”.

Wednesday marks the 41st anniversary of the founding of the Guard by Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.