File image.
On June 26, the Iranian state television announced that Tehran had launched a solid-fueled rocket into space for research purposes.
It’s unclear when or where the rocket was launched, but the announcement came after satellite photos showed preparations at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in the countryside of Iran’s Semnan province.
Seyed Ahmad Hosseini, a spokesman for the Iranian defense ministry’s space organization, said in a statement that a Zoljanah satellite launch vehicle was launched to sub-orbit with “pre-determined research objectives.” According to Hosseini, the three-stage carrier has two stages of solid propulsion and one stage of liquid propulsion and is “technically competitive” with the world’s top satellite carriers.
Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami hailed the successful launch as a “breakthrough” that he said proved Iran’s “scientific power”.
Zoljanah, also spelled Zuljanah, was made by the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics and was unveiled on 1 February 2021. This was the second launch of the rocket. The first launch, which was also sub-orbital, was on 31 January 2021.
The US and its European allies have repeatedly criticized Iran’s space program, claiming that it violates the US Security Council resolutions. Tehran, however, maintains that its space program is peaceful in nature.
The new launch comes just a day after the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, visited to Tehran in a push to resuscitate negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Borrell said after the visit that talks over the nuclear deal would resume in an unnamed Persian Gulf country in the coming days.
