Reuters – Iran said on Tuesday it would press ahead with the launch of three satellites into orbit this year despite a U.S. move to curb Tehran’s ballistic missile program which Washington says has been advanced by the satellite activity.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would name Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, a move partly intended to curb the Islamic Republic’s development of ballistic missiles.
The United States fears long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also be used to launch nuclear warheads.
Iranian Telecoms Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi told Reuters in Geneva on Tuesday that Tehran would stick to its plans to launch three satellites and denied the U.S. accusation that such activity is a cover for ballistic missile development.
