President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is going to send two satellites into orbit in the coming days; despite Western warnings.
Addressing a gathering of people in Golestan Province on Monday January 14, Rouhani said that scientists in Amirkabir University of Technology have built the satellite and the missiles that carry them into space.
The satellite will observe weather condition, waters and forests from 600 kilometers above the Earth, he stated.
Boasting about Iran’s scientific progress and its leaders’ defiance in the face of serious international warnings could be a way of portraying the Islamic Republic as a powerful state on its 40th anniversary in February.
Tehran’s space adventure is taking place regardless of explicit and clear warnings by the United States and France.
Previously, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had warned Iran to stop the plan to launch ballistic missiles into the space, drawing a sharp rebuke from Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who shot back via Twitter, “Iran’s launch of space vehicles — & missile tests — are NOT in violation of Res 2231.” A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry also called on Iran to abort the plan to launch “nuclear-capable missiles.” Subsequently Robert Paladino, a spokesperson for the State Department praised the French for their “powerful statement.”
Iranian foreign Ministry’s spokesman Bahram Qassemi ruled out the French statement as “a repetition of false claims by those who oppose the nuclear deal with Iran.”
Rouhani also noted that the Iranians are not scared by the enemies’ threats and will overcome all problems.
“Neither the U.S., nor the Zionists and their allies are able to bring the great Iranian people to knees,” he remarked.
