 Iran’s Omid satellite on the launch pad (Islamic Republic News Agency) |
NEW YORK – In an apparent direct challenge to the Obama administration’s theme of “hope” and “change,” the Islamic Republic of Iran launched into space today a domestically manufactured “Omid” satellite, which means “Hope” in Farsi.
Asked about the development at today’s White House press briefing, presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said it “does not convince us that Iran is acting responsibly to advance stability or security in the region.”
“Efforts to develop missile delivery capability, efforts to continue on an illicit nuclear program, or threats that Iran makes toward Israel and its sponsorship of terror are a chief concern of this administration,” Gibbs said.
“The president is clear that he wants Iran to be a responsible member of the world community,” Gibbs said. “Again, I would underscore the ‘responsible.’ With that goes responsibilities.”
Gibb’s said today’s development “continues to underscore that our administration will use all elements of our national power to deal with Iran and to help it be a responsible member of the international community.”
A major international concern is that the missile technology used by Iran to launch the satellite for supposedly peaceful purposes could be adapted to create an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM, to deliver a nuclear weapon.
Iran launched the Omid satellite as part of the nation’s celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1979 revolution that began when Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran from exile in Paris.
According to the government-run Islamic Republic News Service, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the order for the launch, declaring, “Dear people of Iran, your children have sent Iran’s first domestic satellite into orbit. May this be a step toward … peace and justice.”
The Omid satellite was launched into space by an Iranian-produced Safir 2 rocket, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.
Fars reported the Omid satellite is equipped with two frequency bands and eight antennae, capable of transmitting information to and from earth 15 times a day while orbiting.
The Omid is a lightweight telecommunications satellite equipped with remote sensing, satellite telemetry and geographic information system technology, as well as remote and ground station data processing, according to Fars.
The Safir-2 rocket is a two-stage, liquid fuel rocket that may have contained a small, solid-fuel third stage, designed with satellite-carrying capabilities and a range of 155 miles, Scientific American reported.
The Iranian satellite program, which began four years ago, is supposedly designed to monitor national security and natural hazards, such as the 2003 earthquake in Bam that killed more than 26,000 people and injured 30,000, according to the Scientific American report.
WND reported in February 2008 that Iran had successfully launched its first space-rocket and was planning to send an Omid satellite into orbit in the near future.
The satellite launch comes as press reports have circulated that back-channel unofficial negotiations have already taken place between the Obama administration and the Iranian government through the auspices of Pugwash Group, an international organization of scientists who champion international nuclear disarmament.
As WND reported, Iranian spokesman Gholam Hossein Ehlam has denied reports of secret negotiations. Iran has demanded as a precondition of any direct talks with the U.S. that the Obama administration first change policy toward Iran by withdrawing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and ending U.S. support for Israel.
France confirmed Iran’s successful launch of its first domestically-produced satellite, according to the Associated Press.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said France is “worried that there is … the development of capabilities that can be used in the ballistic framework,” the AP reported.
