Iran's IRGC launches first military satellite as tensions with US flare
Iran launched a military satellite into orbit on April 22, a significant defense breakthrough at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday it has launched its first military satellite into orbit, becoming one of only a few countries with this technology in the region at a time of heightened US-Iran tensions.
IRGC commander Hossein Salami said that the corps became a “space force” with the launching of the satellite.
“The satellite’s successful launch enhanced new aspects of the Islamic Republic’s defensive might,” Salami said, according to the Iranian state-run Press TV. “By God’s grace, the corps turned into a space force today.”
The satellite is named “Noor,” which means “light” in Persian and Arabic. It launched Wednesday morning from a desert in central Iran via a fuel-powered satellite carrier, according to Reuters. Images on the Iranian state’s Arabic-language news service Alalam showed a Quranic verse inscribed on its side.
