Agency Report
Iran announced Thursday it had carried out a new space launch, in a move likely to irk Western powers amid tough talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal.
“The Simorgh satellite launcher carried three research cargos into space,” defence ministry spokesman Ahmad Hosseini said, quoted by state television.
“The research goals foreseen for this launch have been achieved,” Hosseini added, without elaborating on the nature of the research.
In February, Iran announced a successful test of its most powerful solid fuel satellite launcher to date, the Zoljanah, boasting that it can put a 220-kilogramme (1,100-pound) payload into orbit.
The United States voiced concern about that launch, saying the test could boost Iran’s ballistic missile technology at a moment when the two nations are inching back to diplomacy.
Iran successfully put its first military satellite into orbit in April 2020, drawing a sharp rebuke from Washington.
