The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Iranian space agency hit by U.S. sanctions
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration imposed sanctions Tuesday on Iran’s space agency for the first time, accusing it of developing ballistic missiles under the cover of a civilian program to launch satellites into orbit.
What happened
The sanctions announced by the State and Treasury departments targeting the agency and two of its affiliates follow the explosion Thursday of a rocket at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Space Center in what an Iranian official said was a technical malfunction during a test. The explosion prompted President Donald Trump to tweet a surveillance image depicting the apparent aftermath of the incident and declare that the U.S. had nothing to do with what transpired at the launch site.
What it means
With the latest sanctions, the Trump administration can subject foreign companies and governments, including international space cooperation organizations, to significant penalties if they have any involvement with the Iranian space agency. They would also freeze any of the agency’s assets in U.S. jurisdictions, though there aren’t likely to be any given the state of relations between the two nations.
The sanctions are part of the Trump administration’s escalating campaign of economic and diplomatic measures against Iran since unilaterally withdrawing last year from an international accord that was intended to curb the Iranian nuclear program.
Why it matters
A senior administration official said that the surveillance image provided evidence of the U.S. assertion that the Iranian space program is used to develop missiles, including ones capable of carrying nuclear warheads or other weapons of mass destruction over long distances.
The U.S. continues to maintain that such satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.