Iran said it launched a satellite into space on Saturday in a rocket built by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
It’s the latest update in a programme that the West fears is helping Tehran advance its ballistic missile program.
Iran described the launch as a success – meaning it is the second time it launched a satellite into orbit with a rocket.
However, the launch wasn’t immediately independently confirmed, and the Iranian authorities didn’t immediately provide video or other evidence of the launch, as it has done previously.
It comes amid heightened tensions gripping the Middle East over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, during which Tehran launched an unprecedent missile-and-drone attack on Israel.
Iran has continued to enrich uranium to nearly weapon-grade levels, prompting fear among non-proliferation experts about Tehran’s programme.
In the past, the United States said Iran’s satellite launches defy a UN resolution and urged Tehran not to undertake activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
UN sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile programme expired last October.
Under Iran’s relatively moderate former President Hassan Rouhani, the Islamic Republic slowed its space programme for fear of escalating Western tensions.
However, hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi pushed the programme forward before dying in a helicopter crash in May.
It’s unclear what Masoud Pezeshkian, the country’s new president, wants for the programme as he was silent on the issue during the election campaign.
According to a US intelligence assessment, the development of satellite launch vehicles “would shorten the timeline” for Iran to develop an intercontinental missile because it uses similar technology.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used to deliver nuclear weapons, with the International Atomic Energy Agency warning that Tehran has enough enriched uranium for “several” nuclear weapons if it chooses to produce them.
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Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons and says its space programme is for purely civilian purposes.
However, both US intelligence and the IAEA claim Iran had an organised military nuclear programme up until 2003.
Tensions are rising not only amidst escalating tensions in the Middle East, but also between the West and Russia.
Last week, Putin held talks with a top Iranian security official in Saint Petersburg – thanking Iran for maintaining cooperation with Russia.
Putin also said Russia was waiting for the new Iranian president to officially visit, when they could sign a “new major interstate agreement designed to consolidate reaching the level of strategic partnership between Russia and Iran.”
On Thursday the European Union said it had been provided with “credible information” that Iran delivered drones and missiles to Russia in its war against Ukraine – labelling it a “further military escalation” to both countries.
