The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that it had successfully launched the country's first military satellite Wednesday, as part of a program the United States says is a cover for developing missiles.
The website of the Revolutionary Guards, "Sepah News," said that "the forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard successfully launched this morning the first military satellite of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
The Revolutionary Guards indicated that it had used the "Qased" missile to launch the "Nur 1" satellite, but did not elaborate on other details of the technology used, noting that the satellite had settled in its orbit around the Earth at a distance of 425 km.
Iran had failed to put a satellite into orbit more than two months ago.
The launch of the satellite comes at a time when the relationship between Iran and the United States is very tense with regard to Tehran's nuclear and missile programs. It also comes months after the Qods Force commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a strike by a US airliner in Baghdad on January 3.