Photo: The Canadian Press This is a locator map for Iran with its capital, Tehran. (AP Photo) Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guards fired a new rocket carrying a satellite on Saturday, state television reported, seeking to demonstrate the force’s space prowess even as anti-government protests rage across the country. State television said the Guard had successfully launched the solid-fuel rocket – what it called a Ghaem-100 satellite carrier. Iran’s state television did not immediately show any footage of the launch. State news agency IRNA reported that the carrier will be able to put an 80-kilogram (176-pound) satellite into orbit about 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Earth. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Guard’s aerospace division, said he hopes the Guard will soon use the rocket to launch a new satellite, called Nahid. Iran says its satellite program, like its nuclear activities, is aimed at scientific research and other civilian applications. The United States and other Western countries have long been suspicious of the program because the same technology can be used to develop long-range missiles. Previous launches have drawn rebukes from the US Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-duration satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. However, the program has seen problems recently. There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, another satellite rocket. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 killed three researchers, authorities said at the time. A rocket explosion at the launch site later that year caught the attention of former President Donald Trump. The Guard’s announcement came in the seventh week of protests sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women. The protests engulfing the country initially focused on the state headscarf, or hijab, but quickly turned into one of the biggest challenges to the government since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Demonstrators are calling for the overthrow of clerical power and the death of the supreme leader. Security forces, including paramilitary Revolutionary Guard volunteers, violently crushed the protests, killing more than 300 people, according to rights groups. On Saturday, student unions in Iran reported protests at at least six major universities across the country. Universities have been hubs of unrest, fueling the protest movement despite repression.
