US quietly acknowledges Iran satellite successfully reached orbit as tensions remain high

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States has quietly acknowledged that Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard successfully put an imaging satellite into orbit this week in a launch that resembled others previously criticized by Washington as helping Tehran’s ballistic missile program. The U.S. military has not responded to repeated requests for comment since Iran announced the launch of the Noor-3 satellite on Wednesday, the latest successful launch by the Revolutionary Guard after Iran’s civilian space program faced a series of failed launches in recent years. Early Friday, however, data published by the website space-track.org listed a launch by Iran that put the Noor-3 satellite into orbit. Information for the website is supplied by the U.S. Space Force, the newest arm of the American military.