The Trump administration announced the first-ever sanctions against the Iranian Space Agency, days after satellite imagery emerged showing what appeared to be a failed rocket launch by the country.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Tuesday statement that the sanctions would target both the space agency and two of its research institutions. The U.S. claims that Iran is merely using the tests, which it claims are designed for space research and to launch its own satellites, as a covert means to advance its ballistic missile program.
“The United States will not allow Iran to use its space launch program as cover to advance its ballistic missile programs. Iran’s Aug. 29 attempt to launch a space launch vehicle underscores the urgency of the threat,” Pompeo, 55, said.
“These designations should serve as a warning to the international scientific community that collaborating with Iran’s space program could contribute to Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon delivery system,” he added.
In further information released Tuesday from the State Department, it said that Iran’s space launch vehicle technology is “virtually identical and interchangeable” from that of a ballistic missile that could be capable of delivering a weapon of mass destruction, like a nuclear warhead.
The sanctions come a day after Iran acknowledged that there was an explosion at the Imam Khomeini Space Center. Government spokesman Ali Rabiei, 63, said that the blast was a result of a technical malfunction and not an act of sabotage.
“The explosion happened at the launchpad and no satellite had yet been transferred to the launchpad,” he said. “It happened at a test site, not at the launch site.”
President Trump tweeted out a photo Friday that appeared to be once-classified and showed damage to a rocket launcher and two damaged support vehicles. Trump wrote, “The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran. I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One.”
The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran. I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One. pic.twitter.com/z0iDj2L0Y3
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2019
After the tweet, Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi sent out a selfie with what he alleged was the undamaged satellite Iran intends to send into space.
Me & Nahid I right now, Good Morning Donald Trump! pic.twitter.com/0tQnCP7cQa
— MJ Azari Jahromi (@azarijahromi) August 31, 2019
The U.S. claims tests by the space agency violate a resolution from the UN Security Council that implores the country not to pursue any action related to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
