Iran's missiles: Mullah regime defies international community

The mullah regime continues to flout international resolutions by launching more missiles at a time when Western countries are demanding that it stop its violations of the nuclear agreement, return to the ongoing nuclear negotiations in Vienna, and respond to the demands of the 4+1 signatories to the nuclear agreement. However, Iran has confirmed that it will not goes back to those negotiations until the administration of President Joe Biden lifts all US sanctions imposed on it, which led to the collapse of the Iranian economy and the country's local currency.

Iranian missile launch

This comes in the context of the announcement by Ahmad Hosseini, spokesman for the Aerospace Department of the Iranian Ministry of Defense, on December 30, 2021, that they had successfully launched a Simorgh missile capable of carrying a satellite at a height of 470 kilometers and a speed of 7,350 meters per second.

However, a number of Iranian activists reported on various social media sites that the launch of the Iranian missile this time, after four previous attempts, was also not successful, and that the missile did not find enough speed to reach the required orbit.

Western criticism

For its part, the United States and a number of Western countries criticized the Iranian regime after announcing their success in launching a missile designed to carry satellites. Germany called on Iran to urgently refrain from launching more ballistic missiles and any other missiles and to abide by the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions.

Paris directed sharp criticism at Tehran, considering the launch of this missile a violation of Security Council resolutions, and the French Foreign Ministry added in a statement, “The launch is even more regrettable because it took place at a time when nuclear talks with world powers are making progress,” according to Reuters.

For its part, the US State Department was one of the first to comment on Iran's success in launching a satellite-laden missile, stressing in a statement that Tehran doing this raises great concerns about the spread of nuclear weapons and that Washington is using all its tools in order to prevent the development of the Iranian missile program, calling on the countries of the international community to follow its path to stop Iranian violations.

Iran immediately responded to the criticism, as Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Mahdi Farahi stressed that by the end of the Iranian year, which will end on March 20, 2022, it would launch other missiles to carry satellites.

Implications

Regarding the implications of this Iranian act, Dr. Mohamed Ebadi, a researcher specializing in Iranian affairs, explained that this is the fifth time that Iran has launched a missile loaded with a satellite, following four failed attempts, adding that this attempt also did not succeed. Nevertheless, the significance of this matter is that Iran has missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and reaching long distances that are carrying satellites.

In an exclusive statement to the Reference, Ebadi pointed out that the timing, which coincides with the Vienna nuclear negotiations, shows that Iran wants to send a message, including that it is continuing with its missile industry, that these negotiations will not extend to its missile industry, and that Tehran will not stop until it reaches space. This is a very dangerous matter, as it means that Iran will reach the farthest extent to strike any country, especially Israel, and that these negotiations will remain about the nuclear agreement only, because the mullah regime sees that the missile program is what protects it from the outside, or in more precise terms, serves as “a lifeline.”

Ebadi added that the second matter lies in the fear that this missile may carry a nuclear warhead in the future, and as a result, the countries of the region will raise the level of their armament to confront this, while the United States, which has criticized the launch, may impose formal sanctions on some Iranian institutions or persons.