Iran on Tuesday announced that it has launched its second military satellite – Nour 2 – into orbit as talks on reviving the famous 2015 nuclear deal entered a critical stage in Vienna.
The news was announced by a semi-official news agency Tasnim.
“Iran’s second military satellite — named Nour-2 — has been launched into space by the Qassed rocket of the aerospace wing of the Revolutionary Guards and successfully placed in orbit 500 kilometres (310 miles) above the Earth,” the announcement said.
Nour-2 is the second satellite from the series, the first – Nour 1 – being launched into orbit in April 2020.
The US had already expressed their concern regarding such launching of military satellites. The US fears that such launches could boost Iran’s ballistic missile technology.
Tehran denies US assertions that such activity is a cover for ballistic missile development and says it has never pursued the development of nuclear weapons.
Major powers involved in talks on bringing Washington back into the Iran nuclear deal after then-president Donald Trump’s 2018 withdrawal have said that an agreement is close.
Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog said Saturday they had agreed on an approach for resolving key outstanding issues but new Russian demands stemming from the Ukraine conflict may delay a deal.
