By Peter Lawrence, The Chicago Times
June 15, 2022
BAGDAD – Satellite images indicate that Iran is readying for a space launch Tuesday.
Maxar Technologies released images of a launch pad at the notorious Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s Semnan province. Images showed a rocket being attached to a launch tower.
Iranian state-controlled media, the IRNA news agency, reported in May that Iran would attempt to launch satellites by the end of the Persian calendar in March 2023. Iran has been known to be working on a new solid-fueled rocket named the Zuljanah. Zuljanah refers to the camel of Husayn ibn Ali and was an important mythical character connected with the Battle of Karbala (680 A.D.)
U.S. Army Maj. Rob Lodewick said the “American military will continue to closely monitor Iran’s pursuit of viable space launch technology and how it may relate to advancements in its overall ballistic missile program. Iranian aggression, to include the demonstrated threat posed by its various missile programs, continues to be a top concern for our forces in the region.”
“Iran has consistently chosen to escalate tensions. It is Iran that has consistently chosen to take provocative actions,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
Iran has launched several short-lived satellites into orbit over the past decade. In 2013, Iran launched a defenseless monkey into space. Iranian launch attempts where set back when a fire in February 2019 at Imam Khomeini Spaceport killed three researchers.
In more disturbing developments, Iran’s terrorist paramilitary Revolutionary Guard continues its own secret space program by launching a satellite into orbit. The terrorist Revolutionary Guard launched another satellite in March.
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