Middle East

Feb 27, 2007

Iran in a race to space

State television has reported that Iran has successfully launched its first space rocket. Fars news agency quotes the deputy head of Iran's aerospace research center, Ali Akbar Golrou, as saying the rocket reached an altitude of 150 kilometers, but did not stay in orbit.

Golrou said the rocket returned to Earth by parachute. It was not reported from where in Iran the rocket was launched or where it

landed.

Research payload
The head of Iran's Space Research Center, Mohsen Bahrami, is quoted as saying the rocket was built by the Science and Technology Ministry and the Defense Ministry. Iran has stated that it wants to send its own satellites, including commercial ones, into orbit.

Bahrami told state television that the rocket was carrying "material intended for research created by the ministries of Science and Defense". Bahrami added, "All the tests [prior to the launch] have been carried out in the country's industrial facilities in line with international regulations." Bahrami also said the rocket launch was the result of work completed in the Iranian year (it is currently the 12th and final month of the Iranian year).

The daily newspaper Etemad e-Melli on February 24 quoted Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najar as saying that "building a satellite and satellite launcher ... and becoming a member of the space club are part the Defense Ministry's plans".

In haste for space
The state Islamic Republic News Agency cited Science and Technology Minister Mohammad Soleimani as saying that Iran will speed up its space program. IRNA quoted Soleimani as saying, "Investment in space is very serious and requires time, but we are trying to speed this up."

Iran did send a Russian-made satellite into space aboard a Russian-made rocket in October 2005. The Sina-1 satellite was Iran's first and so far only satellite put into orbit. But Iranian officials have said the country is planning to build and launch several more satellites during the next few years.

The announcement of the rocket launch comes at a time of growing tension between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear program. That program was also in Iranian news on Sunday, with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad quoted by the Iranian Student News Agency as saying his country "has obtained the technology to produce nuclear fuel and Iran's move is like a train ... that does not have any brake or reverse gear". Deputy Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mohammadi was quoted by the same source as saying, "We have prepared ourselves for any situation, even for war."

Copyright 2007 RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036.

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