Iran launched its heaviest rocket ever into space on Friday, carrying a payload of about 660 pounds, a move security experts fear is a sign that Iran has developed technology that could also be used in its nuclear program. are.
The Simurgh rocket launch coincided with an announcement by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi, who said Iran would “significantly” increase its stockpile of enriched uranium, which is approaching weapons-grade purity. Reuters first reported that.
As tensions with the West continue to rise over Iran’s direct involvement in two major international conflicts, including support for terrorist organizations at war with Israel and support for Russia during its brutal invasion of Ukraine. Concerns about Iran’s nuclear program continue to rise. .
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Behnam Ben Taleblou, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and author of Arsenal, a comprehensive report on Iran’s ballistic missile program, told Fox News Digital that Iran’s successful rocket launch He explained that this was not simply a victory for the country’s space program.
This photo published by the official website of Iran’s Ministry of Defense on Friday, December 6, 2024, shows the launch of the Simurgh, or “Phoenix” rocket, at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s rural Semnan province. are. (Iranian Ministry of Defense, via AP)
“Simurg is a liquid propellant-carrying rocket and is the Islamic Republic’s continued attempt to use both liquid and solid propellant-carrying rockets as a bridge to reduce the time required to manufacture long-range systems. “It represents,” he said. This is in response to Tehran’s efforts to develop both intermediate-range ballistic missile and intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities.
The rocket launched from Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in the rural Semnan province, about 130 miles from Tehran, and carried an “orbital propulsion system” and two research systems orbiting 400 miles above Earth, according to the Associated Press. It was equipped with.
According to reports, the system will allow Iran to push satellites into higher orbital attitudes, a capability that has apparently been sought by Iran for a long time.
However, the rocket also reportedly carried the Iranian military’s Fakhr-1 satellite, which is believed to be the first time an Iranian civilian program has carried a military payload.
“The government of the Islamic Republic has shown that it is possible to walk and chew gum at the same time by pursuing both a liquid propellant space program led by the Iranian Space Agency and a solid propellant space program led by the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Forces. ” Ben Taleburu explained. . “Both of these space programs have direct military applications.”
Iranian missiles on display in a park in Tehran, Iran, on January 20, 2024. Iran has been a central player in several overlapping regional conflicts, including recent airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan, and support for Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthi movement in Yemen. (Photo by Majid Saidi/Getty Images)
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Iran had long violated a United Nations-mandated ban on its ballistic missile program, resulting in the eventual resulted in the United States withdrawing from the international Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
However, advances in space and missile development have long led Western nations to worry that these technologies could increase the threat of launching a nuclear weapon if Iran were to develop one.
As the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) reported in a November 2024 report, the United States continues to assess that Iran is not producing nuclear weapons.
The IAEA warned earlier this year that Iran was increasing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium metal, which is now 60% pure rather than 20% pure, falling just short of weapons-grade uranium enriched to 90% purity.
Last month, ODNI assessed that given the Iranian government’s stockpile of enriched uranium, Iran could produce “more than a dozen” nuclear weapons if the uranium was further enriched.
This photo released by Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization on November 5, 2019 shows centrifuges at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, via AP, File)
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The intelligence agency also notes that Iran uses the threat of nuclear weapons as a negotiating leverage and as a means to deter international pressure, a tactic it also uses for its space program. pointed out.
“The Islamic Republic’s space program provides the regime with the same status and security as its nuclear program,” Ben Taboul said. “We should be more concerned about these launches in a context where the regime is rattling its nuclear sabers.”
