Tehran says to orbit satellites soon

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DUBAI, Jan 10, (Agencies): Iran will put two satellites into orbit in coming weeks using domestically made missiles, President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, a week after Washington warned it not to pursue three planned space rocket launches. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Tehran against pursuing launches that he said would violate a UN Security Council resolution because they use ballistic missile technology.

The United States is concerned that the long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit can also be used to launch warheads. Iran, which considers its space programme a matter of national pride, has said its space vehicle launches and missile tests were not violations and would continue.

Details
“In the coming weeks, we will put two satellites into space using our Iran-made missiles,” Rouhani said, Iranian state TV reported. He gave no further details about the satellites. Pompeo had said Iran planned to launch in the coming months three rockets, called Space Launch Vehicles (SLV), that he said incorporate technology “virtually identical” to that used in intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Under the UN Security Council Resolution that enshrined Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers – which Washington pulled out of last spring – the country is “called upon” to refrain from work for up to eight years on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since the US pullout in May, followed by US President Donald Trump reimposing sanctions that were lifted under the multinational agreement in 2016.

Iran launched its first domestically- built satellite, the OMID (Hope) research and telecoms satellite, in 2009 on the 30th anniversary of the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution in 2009.

The 40th anniversary falls in February. France reiterated on Tuesday need for limitations on Iran’s ballistic missile activities and expressed solidarity with European Union actions to place sanctions on Iranian individuals or entities involved in “hostile and unacceptable” acts on EU territory.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said in a briefing that France expressed “concern” after an Iranian, midrange, ballistic missile test early last month, noting that French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian maintains “constant” follow- up on the subject of Iran’s ballistic programmes.

Respect
Answering questions, the spokeswoman said Le Drian felt “a discussion limiting Iran’s ballistic missile activities must be among the EU’s requirements with respect to this country.” Von der Muhll also pointed out that France was in full solidarity with the recent EU decisions relative to sanctions such as freezing the assets of Iranian operatives seeking to carry out violent operations against opposition groups based in Europe. But despite the above issues, the French official said they would not damage the existing nuclear accord signed between Iran and the P5+1 in 2015.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton on Wednesday praised the European Union’s decision to impose sanctions on Iran over alleged attacks and assassination plots in Europe. “We strongly support the actions of our European partners to sanction a unit of the Iranian intelligence service and its operatives for multiple assassination plots on the continent since 2015,” Bolton said in a tweet. “We are united in our efforts to stop Iranian terrorism,” he maintained.

On Tuesday, the European Union added two Iranian individuals and a unit of the Iranian intelligence services to the bloc’s terror list over alleged plots against Iranian opposition figures in Denmark and France. Iran, meanwhile, said that it would rethink of its intelligence and security cooperation with some European countries that imposed sanctions on a security body of the country.

The move was taken by these countries claiming that this body is involved in planning to carry out assassinations inside Europe. As some European states have supported some well-known terrorist groups, Iran would reassess its intelligence cooperation with these countries, Iran’s news agency (IRNA) quoted a diplomatic source as saying, on the condition of anonymity. Tehran went to say that it would take key decisions in this matter, the agency said. During their meeting with an Iranian official, ambassadors of six EU countries tried to justify stances of the EU, but they found a decisive reply from the official, the source said. The meeting concluded within 10 minutes as they used “improper language and unaccepted remarks”, it noted. Some Western media outlets announced that the EU has agreed Tuesday on imposing sanctions against an intelligence apparatus of Iran because of “planning to assassinate some Iranian opponents in Europe”.

Two Iranian people and the intelligence body were added to the terrorist list of the EU as part of the sanctions. Iran confirmed it is holding US Navy veteran Michael R. White at a prison in the country, making him the first American known to be detained under Trump’s administration. White’s detention adds new pressure to the rising tension between Iran and the US, which under Trump has pursued a maximalist campaign against Tehran that includes pulling out of its nuclear deal with world powers

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