Iran set to conduct test launch of new rocket

Agencies | Jeddah        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Iran said yesterday it intended to conduct a test launch of its new solid-fueled rocket, despite a series of catastrophic failures and growing evidence that Israel may be sabotaging Tehran’s aerospace program.

Satellite images showed preparations at a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Semnan province.

Defense Ministry spokesman Ahmad Hosseini said each of the Zuljanah rocket’s three stages would be tested in the launch. Iran insists the rocket is designed only for satellites, but critics say it can carry ballistic missiles.

The US has alleged that Iran’s satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and has called on Tehran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

“Iran has consistently chosen to escalate tensions. It … has consistently chosen to take provocative actions,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said yesterday. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Rob Lodewick said the US military would “continue to closely monitor Iran’s pursuit of viable space launch technology and how it may relate to advancements in its overall ballistic missile program.”

He said: “Iranian aggression, to include the demonstrated threat posed by its various missile programs, continues to be a top concern for our forces in the region.” Iran’s aerospace development has been beset with difficulties, widely attributed to Israeli sabotage.

There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, a type of satellite-carrying rocket. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 killed three researchers, and the launch pad remains scarred from an explosion in August the same year.