Iran tests satellite-carrying rocket

Iran tests satellite-carrying rocket

Subject: Science and Technology

Context-

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards tested a new satellite-carrying rocket.

More on the news-

• Washington fears the same long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also be used to launch nuclear warheads.

About Ghaem 100-

• The Ghaem 100, Iran’s first three-stage launch vehicle, will be able to place satellites weighing 80 kg in an orbit of 500 km from the earth’s surface.
• The flight test of this satellite carrier with a solid-fuelled engine was successfully completed.
• The rocket would be used to launch Iran’s Nahid satellite for the telecommunications ministry, as per the report.

Iran’s missile programme-

• Iran, which has one of the biggest missile programmes in the Middle East, has had several failed satellite launches in the past few years, blamed on technical issues.
• A U.N. resolution in 2015 called on Iran to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons following an agreement with six world powers.

What was the 2015 Iran nuclear deal?

• The deal is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
• The JCPOA was the result of prolonged negotiations from 2013 and 2015 between Iran and P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States + Germany).
• Under the deal, Iran agreed to significantly cut its stores of centrifuges, enriched uranium and heavy-water, all key components for nuclear weapons.
• Iran also agreed to implement a protocol that would allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to access its nuclear sites to ensure Iran would not be able to develop nuclear weapons in secret.
• While the West agreed to lift sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear proliferation, other sanctions addressing alleged abuses of human rights and Iran’s ballistic missile programme remained in place.
• The US committed to lifting sanctions on oil exports, but continued to restrict financial transactions, which have deterred international trade with Iran.
• Nonetheless, Iran’s economy, after suffering years of recessions, currency depreciation, and inflation, stabilized significantly after the deal took effect, and its exports skyrocketed.
• Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East, strongly rejected the deal, and other countries like Iran’s great regional rival Saudi Arabia, complained that they were not involved in the negotiations even though Iran’s nuclear programme posed security risks for every country in the region.
• After Trump abandoned the deal and reinstated banking and oil sanctions, Iran ramped up its nuclear programme in earnest, returning to approximately 97% of its pre-2015 nuclear capabilities.