Iran said on Friday it had conducted a successful space launch, the latest in its programme that the US says improves Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.
Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh programme, a satellite launch vehicle that has had a series of failed launches, from Iran’s Imam Khomeini Cosmodrome in the rural province of Semnan. It is the site of Iran’s civilian space programme.
Simorgh put what Iran called an “orbital propulsion system” into a 400-kilometre (250-mile) orbit above Earth, along with two research systems. The system could allow Iran to change the orbit of the spacecraft, something Tehran has long wanted to do in order to geosynchronise the orbits of its satellites.
There was no immediate independent confirmation that the launch was successful. The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The announcement came as tensions in the Middle East rise over Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and an uneasy ceasefire in Lebanon.
The US has previously said Iran’s satellite launches contravene a UN Security Council resolution and urged Tehran to take no action related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. UN sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile programme expired in October 2023.
“Iran’s work on space launch vehicles, including its Simorgh, would likely shorten the timeline for an intercontinental ballistic missile, should it choose to develop one, because the systems use similar technology,” the US intelligence community said in a July report.
Under Iran’s relatively moderate former president Hassan Rouhani, the Islamic republic slowed its space programme, fearing increased tensions with the West. The late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, a protege of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who came to power in 2021, pushed the programme forward.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist who has repeatedly said he wants to negotiate with the US over sanctions, has yet to propose a strategy for Iran’s space ambitions.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles could be used to deliver nuclear weapons. After the cancellation of the nuclear deal with world powers, Iran is now producing near weapons-grade uranium. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that Tehran has enough enriched uranium to build ‘multiple’ nuclear warheads if it decides to produce them.
Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons and has said its space programme, like its nuclear activities, is purely for civilian purposes. However, US intelligence agencies and the IAEA claim that Iran had an organised military nuclear programme until 2003.
