New Iranian Missile Puts Europe Within Reach
All the politicians seem to be able to do is wring their hands and wish it wasn’t true.
Iran flexed its muscles on Wednesday, displaying a new missile that the Islamic Republic claimed would serve as a satellite launch vehicle (SLV). But Israeli defense officials warned it could one day become an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a range of several thousand kilometers, putting almost all of Europe in its reach.
A model of the missile, named Simorgh, was displayed at a space show in Teheran, along with the three new Iranian-built satellites – Mesbah-2, Tolo and Navid-e-Elm-o-Sanat.
Iranian officials said that the 87-ton Simorgh could carry a satellite weighing 100 kilograms and place it into orbit in space. Hailing the new technology, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Simorgh would carry Mesbah-2 into space, but gave no timeframe.
“The scientific arena is where we should defeat the [West’s] domination,” Ahmadinejad said, in remarks broadcast live on state TV. He said the launch is a “very big event. This is the first presence of animals in space launched by Iran. It’s the start of bigger achievements” to come.
Tal Inbar, head of the Space Research Center, Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, said that the unveiling of the Simorgh was a worrisome development since the missile could one day be adapted into an ICBM, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
After analyzing images of the missile, Inbar said that it appeared to currently be powered by liquid fuel, but could one day be configured to work with a solid fuel propellant, a technology that the Iranians have already begun using in their Sajil ballistic missile, which has a range of around 2,500 km.
“This is a major technological breakthrough and could mean that the Iranians are on their way to obtaining an ICBM,” he said.
