Free Republic

A top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that the country's armed forces will unveil several missiles and weapons at the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution next month. Mehr news agency quoted commander Massud Jazayeri as saying: "Several missile and weapons projects will be unveiled during the 10 days of dawn (February 1 to 11) by armed forces." Jazayeri's announcement comes less than a week after Tehran said it will reveal three new satellites in February. Communications Minister Reza Taghipour said the three home-built communications satellites were Toloo (Dawn), Ya Mahdi and Mesbah-2. He did not give...

LONDON, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Iran is set to launch a satellite this year that will provide telecommunications services and Earth imaging for the Islamic republic. The Mesbah spacecraft will be Iran's second satellite launch in about three months and will be sent into orbit from the Polstesk launch facility in northern Russia, Ahmad Taleb-Zadeh, head of Iran Aerospace Organization, said. The Sina-1 telecom satellite was launched last October. Iran has plans to launch four more birds after Mesbah. Taleb-Zadeh's statements were reported by the English-language IranMania Web site and cited Iran's Iranian Labour News Agency. Mesbah has been considered...

With the performance of Iran’s UN delegation in New York, Iranian political circles inside and outside the country now have more reason for concern. Ahmadinejad spoke of combat at the UN and shut the door to “politics” while Larijani has appointed hardliners as negotiators over the nuclear issue. Both issues are interpreted in Iranian political analysts to mean one thing: Ahmadinejad and Larijani are taking the country towards war. Observers note that concerns over the policies of the Mesbah Yazdi – Ahmadinejad – Larijani team were first raised at the highest political level in Iran but were soon shared by...

EHRAN (AFP) Sep 02, 2004 Iran intends to launch its first satellite into space in April 2005, with the device described as being purely for civil purposes, Iranian media reported Thursday. The satellite, code-named Mesbah (lantern), was shown on state television. It is said to weigh 60 kilograms (132 pounds) and is cube-shaped which each side measuring 50 centimetres (20 inches). It will be put into orbit at an altitude of 900 kilometres (about 560 miles). "The satellite will be used to identify natural resources, control the electrical and energy network (gas and oil), and later on can be used...