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Iran Regime Reports Successful Launch of Possible ‘Dual Use’ Rocket

An Iranian Simorgh rocket was used to launch three satellites into low Earth obit, Iranian officials announced Sunday. EPA-EFE
An Iranian Simorgh rocket was used to launch three satellites into low Earth obit, Iranian officials announced Sunday. EPA-EFE

Officials in the Islamic Republic announced Sunday that their defense ministry successfully launched a two-stage Simorgh rocket equipped with a payload of three satellites. There have been five failed attempts to properly deploy this type of system in the past.

State media identified the cargo as consisting of research, global positioning, and communication satellites. Isa Zarepour, the regime's Information and Communications Technology Minister, reported that the hardware was already sending receivable signals to technicians on the ground.

The Simorgh, or ‘Phoenix’ in Farsi, has caused some apprehension in Western intelligence agencies because of the possibility it could have ‘dual use’ capability and might be positioned conjointly to deliver nuclear munitions.

The United States has maintained that such actions by Tehran violate a U.N. Security Council resolution placing limits the theocracy's ballistic missile testing. Despite these sanctions, the Islamic Republic has stated they will continue to develop their "defensive" aerospace programs.

On Jan. 20, the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent the research satellite Soraya into a 466-mile orbit. This operation was the highest altitude that the Iranian Space Agency has ever achieved.

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