US intelligence estimates that the development of satellite launchers “shortens the time frame” needed for Iran to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile,
Iran announced Sunday that it had successfully launched three satellites into space with a rocket that has suffered multiple failures in the past, in a program the West says improves Tehran’s ballistic missiles.
Images broadcast by Iranian state television show a nighttime launch of the Simorgh rocket. An Associated Press analysis says the event occurred at the Imam Khomeini launch base in Iran’s rural Semnan province.
State television named the launched satellites Mahda, Kayhan-2 and Hatef-1. He describes the Mahda as a research satellite, while the Kayhan and Hatef are nanosatellites focused on global positioning and communication respectively. Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Isa Zarepour, said the Mahda had already sent signals back to Earth.
Simorgh is a two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket that the Iranians have described as being designed to place satellites in low Earth orbit.
US intelligence global threat assessment for 2023 says satellite launcher development “shortens the time limit” necessary for Iran to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, as it uses similar technology. This report specifically cites the Simorgh as a possible dual-use rocket.
The United States has previously said Iran’s satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution and called on Tehran not to undertake any activities involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. UN sanctions linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program expired last October.