The US State Department on Sunday accused Iran of seeking to expand its ballistic missile program after it launched a satellite into space Saturday with a rocket built by the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the latest for a program the West fears helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program.
The Chamran-1 satellite, which was launched into space by the Qaem-100 satellite carrier, was put into a 550-kilometre orbit and its first signals had been received, the media said.
It added that the solid-fuel, three-stage rocket was designed and built by the Aerospace Force of the Revolutionary Guards.
The primary mission of the satellite, which weighs 60 kg, “is to test hardware and software systems for demonstrating orbital maneuvering technology in height and phase,” according to Reuters.
The US military say the long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also allow Tehran to launch long-range weapons, possibly including nuclear warheads.
Iran described the launch as a success, which would be the second such launch to put a satellite into orbit with the rocket. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch’s success.
Independent scientists later confirmed the launch, and that the satellite had reached orbit.
Footage later released by Iranian media showed the rocket blast off from a mobile launcher. An Associated Press analysis of the video and other imagery later released suggested the launch happened at the Guard’s launch pad on the outskirts of the city of Shahroud, some 350 km east of the capital, Tehran.
The launch comes amid heightened tensions gripping the wider Middle East over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, during which Tehran launched an unprecedented direct missile-and-drone attack on Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels, raising concerns among nonproliferation experts about Tehran's program.
Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard, praised the launch in a statement and said scientists successfully overcame “the atmosphere of extensive and oppressive international sanctions.”
The Sabereen news, a channel linked to the Quds Force, wrote that by developing Qaem-100 satellite carrier, the IRGC has officially acquired missiles with a range of 5,500 to 12,500 km.
Later, the US State Department said it has “long made clear our concern that Iran's space launch vehicle programs provide a pathway to expand its longer-range missile systems.”
“We continue to use a variety of nonproliferation tools, in coordination with our allies and partners, to counter the further advancement of Iran's ballistic missile program and its ability to proliferate missiles and related technology,” it added.
The United States had previously said Iran's satellite launches defy UN Security Council Resolution 2231 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 worldwide threat assessment this year said Iran's development of satellite launch vehicles “would shorten the timeline” for Iran to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile because it uses similar technology.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used to deliver nuclear weapons. Iran is now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers. Tehran has enough enriched uranium for “several” nuclear weapons, if it chooses to produce them, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency repeatedly has warned.
