Iran says rocket sends three 'research payloads' into space
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[December 30, 2021]
DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran has used a
satellite launch rocket to send three research devices into space, a
defence ministry spokesman said on Thursday, as indirect U.S.-Iran talks
take place in Austria to try to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal.
He did not clarify whether the devices had reached orbit.
Iran, which has one of the biggest missile programmes in the Middle
East, has suffered several failed satellite launches in the past few
years due to technical issues.
Spokesman Ahmad Hosseini said the Simorgh satellite carrier rocket,
whose name translates as "Phoenix", had launched the three research
devices at an altitude of 470 kilometres (290 miles). He did not give
further details.
"The intended research objectives of this launch were achieved,"
Hosseini said, in comments broadcast on state television. "This was done
as a preliminary launch ... God willing, we will have an operational
launch soon."
Iranian state television showed footage of what it said was the firing
of the launch vehicle.
Thursday's reported space launch comes as Tehran and Washington hold
indirect talks in Vienna in an attempt to salvage a nuclear accord that
Iran reached with world powers and that former U.S. president Donald
Trump abandoned in 2018.
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Iranian satellite carrier rocket "Simorgh" is launched in an unknown
location in Iran, in this picture obtained on December 30, 2021.
Ministry of Defense of Iran/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via
REUTERS
The United States imposed sanctions on Iran's civilian space agency and
two research organisations in 2019, claiming they were being used to
advance Tehran's ballistic missile programme.
Tehran denies such activity is a cover for ballistic missile
development.
Iran launched its first satellite Omid (Hope) in 2009 and its Rasad
(Observation) satellite was also sent into orbit in June 2011. Tehran
said in 2012 that it had successfully put its third domestically-made
satellite, Navid (Promise), into orbit.
In April 2020, Iran said it successfully launched the country's first
military satellite into orbit, following repeated failed launch attempts
in the previous months.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; editing by John Stonestreet and Alex
Richardson)
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