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Iran Launches 3 Satellites into Space as Tensions Rise

A handout picture provided by the Iran's Ministry of Defense on June 26, 2022, shows an Iranian satellite-carrier rocket, called “Zuljanah,” blasting off from an undisclosed location in Iran. (Iran's Ministry of Defense/AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Iran's Ministry of Defense on June 26, 2022, shows an Iranian satellite-carrier rocket, called “Zuljanah,” blasting off from an undisclosed location in Iran. (Iran's Ministry of Defense/AFP)
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Iran Launches 3 Satellites into Space as Tensions Rise

A handout picture provided by the Iran's Ministry of Defense on June 26, 2022, shows an Iranian satellite-carrier rocket, called “Zuljanah,” blasting off from an undisclosed location in Iran. (Iran's Ministry of Defense/AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Iran's Ministry of Defense on June 26, 2022, shows an Iranian satellite-carrier rocket, called “Zuljanah,” blasting off from an undisclosed location in Iran. (Iran's Ministry of Defense/AFP)

Iran said Sunday it successfully launched three satellites into space, the latest for a program that the West says improves Tehran's ballistic missiles.

The state-run IRNA news agency said the launch also saw the successful use of Iran's Simorgh rocket, which has had multiple failures in the past.

Footage released by Iranian state television showed a nighttime launch for the Simorgh rocket. An Associated Press analysis of the footage's details showed that it took place at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s rural Semnan province.

State TV named the launched satellites Mahda, Kayhan-2 and Hatef-1. It described the Mahda as a research satellite, while the Kayhan and the Hatef were nanosatellites focused on global positioning and communication respectively.

There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, another satellite-carrying rocket.

The United States has previously said Iran’s satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

UN sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program expired last October.

The US intelligence community’s 2023 worldwide threat assessment said the development of satellite launch vehicles “shortens the timeline” for Iran to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile because it uses similar technology.

The US government did not immediately acknowledge the launch.

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In Hiroshima Peace Park, Visitors Hope Nobel Win Will Boost Peace Efforts

People pray in front of the cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima city on October 12, 2024. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
People pray in front of the cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima city on October 12, 2024. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
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In Hiroshima Peace Park, Visitors Hope Nobel Win Will Boost Peace Efforts

People pray in front of the cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima city on October 12, 2024. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
People pray in front of the cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima city on October 12, 2024. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

Visitors to the memorial park for Hiroshima's atomic bombing said they hoped Friday's Nobel Peace Prize for Japan's atomic bomb survivors would boost efforts for world peace and spur world leaders to visit the site.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the prize to the Nihon Hidankyo group, representing survivors of the 1945 US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its decades-long efforts to abolish nuclear weapons.
"As Japanese people, I believe we need to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen again," Ui Torisawa, a 21-year-old student who was visiting the Peace Memorial Park with her friend, told Reuters.
"Since Japan is the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, and because similar things could be repeated in other countries, I think Japan is probably in the best position to stop that."
August next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the bombings. It is likely to draw focus on the legacy of its survivors, known as "hibakusha,” and could set off a renewed debate about nuclear weapons.
Yasuhiro Suzuki, who was visiting the Peace Memorial Park with his wife, son and daughter from Fukuoka prefecture in southwest Japan, called it "groundbreaking" that the group representing the atomic bomb survivors was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
"Nuclear power is incredibly beneficial to the world, but we must be careful not to misuse it," Suzuki said. "I hope this becomes an opportunity for people around the world to think about various aspects of this issue."
Hiroshima's peace park has long drawn not just Japanese visitors but also foreigners, including world leaders such as Barack Obama, who spoke at the site as US president in 2016 and hugged a tearful hibakusha.
"I believe there are still many prime ministers and leaders in the world who could come (to Japan), and I hope they will make the effort to visit," said Hiroshima resident Hirokazu Tanabe, who works as a driver and who came to the park to show around a friend.
Many Japanese feel the US should apologize for the bombings, which killed hundreds of thousands and prompted Japan's surrender days later. Japan has since relied on the US for protection, renouncing the right to wage war and defining its military as only for self-defense.
Twenty-two-year-old student Ayane Takiguchi, who visited the park with Torisawa, said it was an honor the group representing atomic bomb victims was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
"I myself am studying education, and I've recently recognized the importance of achieving peace through education," she said. "In that sense, I'm happy that this has such a big impact."