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Iran Accelerates Its Space Program
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lt.-Col. (ret.) Michael Segall and Iran Desk - Satellite images from the Iranian Space Center were released on December 12, 2021, showing Iran preparing to launch a space launch vehicle (SLV). It is widely suspected that Iran is seeking to connect its nuclear capabilities to launch vehicles for nuclear weapons. In February 2021, Iran launched a powerful new three-stage rocket, the Zuljanah SLV. Forbes magazine wrote that the Zuljanah "is adequate to place a satellite in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and, for Iran, a big step forward for both its space program and its effort to develop delivery vehicles for possible future nuclear warheads." UN Security Council Resolution 2231, approved in July 2015, "called upon" Iran not to take any action involving ballistic missiles "designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons." The Permanent Representatives to the UN of Israel and the U.S. noted that two space launch vehicles tested in June 2021 by Iran incorporated technologies that were virtually identical to those used in ballistic missiles designed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons.