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Iran tests rocket, plans to
launch satellite: TV
Parisa Hafezi and Fredrik Dahl
Reuters
Monday February 4, 2008
Iran launched a rocket on Monday designed to send its first homemade
research satellite into orbit in the next year, state television
said, a move likely to add to Western concerns about Tehran's
nuclear plans.
The technology used to put satellites into orbit could also be
used for launching weapons, analysts said.
The West fears Iran is trying to master nuclear technology so
it can build weapons. Iran insists its plans are peaceful.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad read out the launch countdown before
the rocket blasted off to chants of "God is greatest"
by an audience of officials in a control room, state TV reported.
(Article continues below)
"The implications of (the test) are very interesting. If
they can send a satellite into orbit ... the Israelis will claim
there is no reason why they can't launch a weapon system in the
same way or why they can't make a long-range ballistic missile,"
London-based defense analyst Paul Beaver said.
TV footage showed the rocket soaring into the sky from a desert
launch pad, leaving a vapor trail. A parachute appeared to drop
from the rocket shortly after the launch. State television gave
few details about the rocket.
State media said the research satellite, called Omid (Hope),
would be launched by March 2009.
Full
article here.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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