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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran announced Thursday that it has launched a satellite carrier rocket carrying three devices into space, but it is unclear whether any objects have entered orbit around Earth.
The state television report and other reports by Iran’s semi-official news agencies did not say when the launch took place or what devices the carrier brought with it. But the launch came amid tough negotiations in Vienna over Iran’s shattered nuclear deal.
Previous launches drew backlash from the United States. The US State Department, Space Force, and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Defense Department spokesman Ahmad Hosseini described the rocket as a Simorgh or “Phoenix” rocket. He said the three devices were sent to 470 kilometers (290 miles).
Hosseini said that “the performance of the space center and the performance of the satellite carrier have been done properly.” He described the launch as a “first” and suggested that more are on the way.
Iranian television broadcast images showing the white rocket with the slogan “Simorgh satellite carrier” and “We can do it” firing into the morning sky from Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport. A state television reporter at a nearby desert field hailed the launch as “another achievement by Iranian scientists.”
But officials remained silent on whether the launched objects actually reached orbit. Iran’s civilian space program has experienced a number of setbacks in recent years, including deadly fires and a launch pad rocket explosion that caught the attention of former President Donald Trump.
Iranian state media recently presented a list of planned satellite launches for the Islamic Republic’s civil space program. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards run its own parallel program that successfully placed a satellite into orbit last year.
The explosions have raised concerns in Washington about whether the technology used to launch the satellites could advance Iran’s ballistic missile development. The United States says such satellite launches are in violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on Iran to refrain from any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Iran, which has long said it has not sought nuclear weapons, continues to launch satellites and rocket tests have no military component.
A launch announcement as nuclear negotiators meet in Vienna is in line with Tehran’s firm stance under President Ebrahim Raisi, a recently elected conservative cleric.
New Iranian demands in nuclear negotiations have infuriated Western countries and increased regional tensions as Tehran continues to advance with atomic advances. Diplomats have repeatedly warned that time is running out to re-establish the deal, which collapsed three years ago when the United States unilaterally withdrew under then-President Trump.
Iran has now abandoned all limitations under the treaty and increased its uranium enrichment rate from below 4% purity to 60% – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. International investigators face difficulties in monitoring Tehran’s progress.
Satellite images seen by the Associated Press showed a launch imminent earlier this month. The images showed preparations at the spaceport in the desert plains of Iran’s rural Semnan province, about 240 kilometers (150 mi) southeast of Tehran.
Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit, and in 2013 it sent a monkey into space. But under Raisi, the government seems to have sharpened its focus on space. Iran’s Supreme Space Council convened for the first time in 11 years.
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DeBre reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.
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