Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launches second surveillance satellite: state TV

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday said it launched a second reconnaissance satellite into space.

The Noor-2 satellite launched from a truck in the Shahroud Desert and reached about 310 miles above the Earth’s surface, according to state-run news channel reports reviewed by the The Associated Press.

“We are destined to reach space and praise be to God we did,” said Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guard’s aerospace division, according to the AP. “Now the way has been paved and we must certainly do bigger things.”

Iran previously launched the first Noor satellite into space in 2020, which the U.S. dismissed as a “tumbling webcam in space,” according to the AP.

The U.S. has still warned against Iranian satellite launches, which could pave the way for an intercontinental ballistic missile, and said any satellite launch is in violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution, the AP noted.

The successful satellite launch follows a previous failed launch near the beginning of March, according to another AP report.

The launch comes as negotiations that began in November over implementing a new Iran nuclear deal are expected to be nearing the finish line.

The previous nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA), was passed in 2015 under the Obama administration, lifting economic sanctions on Iran in return for the nation’s commitment not to develop nuclear weapons.

The JCPOA was scrapped in 2018 by former President Trump.

Officials have suggested in a variety of reports in the past couple of weeks that a new deal is close to being agreed upon by the West and Iran.