December 30, 2021 - 01:39 PM EST

US 'concerned' over Iran rocket launch

The Iranian government on Thursday claimed to have successfully launched a rocket carrying three satellite “research devices” into space. 

It was not immediately clear if the research devices had been successfully launched into orbit, but the move follows increasingly provocative actions by Iran even as it engages in indirect talks with the U.S. over a mutual return to the 2015 nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). 

The State Department spokesperson said Iran’s space program, which Tehran describes as for civilian purposes, violates a resolution in the United Nations Security Council that calls upon Iran not to undertake activity related to ballistic missiles “designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”

“The United States continues to use all its nonproliferation tools to prevent the further advancement of Iran's missile programs and urges other countries to take steps to address Iran's missile development activity,” the spokesperson said. 

Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency on Thursday quoted Iranian Defense Ministry Spokesman Ahmad Hosseini lauding the rocket’s successful launch into space as an achievement of the Islamic republic’s civilian space program. 

“We will speed up work so that we can become one of the six countries that can launch satellites into the GEO (geostationary) orbit,” Hosseini is quoted as saying. Fars News Agency is owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. in 2019. 

The Associated Press reported that Hosseini and other officials had yet to comment on the status of the objects launched into space hours after the launch, suggesting the rocket had failed to reach the speeds necessary to place its payload in the correct orbit. 

The Trump administration viewed Iran’s efforts to launch satellites into space as provocative military actions. In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned Iran’s successful launch of a military satellite into space, saying the effort advanced Tehran’s ballistic missile program.  

A launchpad rocket explosion in 2019 notably grabbed the attention of then-President Trump, who tweeted out an image of the destruction along with “best wishes and good luck” in determining the cause of the failure. 

“We will speed up work so that we can become one of the six countries that can launch satellites into the GEO (geostationary) orbit,” Hosseini is quoted as saying. Fars News Agency is owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. in 2019. 

The Associated Press reported that Hosseini and other officials had yet to comment on the status of the objects launched into space hours after the launch, suggesting the rocket had failed to reach the speeds necessary to place its payload in the correct orbit. 

The Trump administration viewed Iran’s efforts to launch satellites into space as provocative military actions. In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned Iran’s successful launch of a military satellite into space, saying the effort advanced Tehran’s ballistic missile program.  

A launchpad rocket explosion in 2019 notably grabbed the attention of then-President Trump, who tweeted out an image of the destruction along with “best wishes and good luck” in determining the cause of the failure. 

“We will speed up work so that we can become one of the six countries that can launch satellites into the GEO (geostationary) orbit,” Hosseini is quoted as saying. Fars News Agency is owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. in 2019. 

The Associated Press reported that Hosseini and other officials had yet to comment on the status of the objects launched into space hours after the launch, suggesting the rocket had failed to reach the speeds necessary to place its payload in the correct orbit. 

The Trump administration viewed Iran’s efforts to launch satellites into space as provocative military actions. In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned Iran’s successful launch of a military satellite into space, saying the effort advanced Tehran’s ballistic missile program.  

A launchpad rocket explosion in 2019 notably grabbed the attention of then-President Trump, who tweeted out an image of the destruction along with “best wishes and good luck” in determining the cause of the failure. 

https://thehill.com/policy/international/587732-us-concerned-over-iran-rocket-launch