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Iran has acknowledged for the first time that a rocket at its Imam Khomeini Space Center exploded last week because of a technical malfunction during a test, an official has said. The comments by government spokesperson Ali Rabiei were the first explanation for Thursday’s explosion, which came ahead of a planned satellite launch by Iran that the US has criticized. Mr Rabiei also criticised President Donald Trump for tweeting what appeared to be a surveillance photo of the aftermath of the explosion shot by an American spy satellite. The explosion marked the third failure involving a rocket at the Iranian center, which has raised suspicions of sabotage in Iran’s space program. Mr Raibiei has refused to be drawn by the speculation and maintained that “this has been a technical matter and a technical error. Our experts unanimously say so.” “The explosion happened at the launchpad and no satellite had yet been transferred to the launchpad,” Mr Rabiei said. “It happened at a test site, not at the launch site.” Commercially available satellite images by Planet Labs Inc and Maxar Technologies showed a black plume of smoke rising above a launch pad Credit: HANDOUT Commercially available satellite images by Planet Labs Inc and Maxar Technologies showed a black plume of smoke rising above a launch pad, with what appeared to be the charred remains of a rocket. The photo posted on Friday by Mr Trump appeared to be a once-classified surveillance photo from US intelligence agencies. Analysts said the black rectangle in the photo’s upper-left-hand corner likely covered up the photo’s classification. The image showed damaged vehicles around the launch pad, as well as damage done to the rocket’s launcher. It also clearly showed a large phrase written in Farsi on the pad: “National Product, National Power.” “The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran,” Mr Trump wrote in his tweet, identifying the rocket used. “I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One.” Mr Rabiei criticised Mr Trump’s decision to tweet about the rocket explosion. “We don’t understand why the US president tweets and posts satellite pictures with excitement. This is not understandable,” he said. “Maybe this is because lack of Iran-related subjects that they raise such issues.” Iran is now preparing to launch the Nahid-1, a communication satellite, into space Credit: REX The blast followed two failed satellite launches of the Payam and Doosti in January and February. A separate fire at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in February also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time. Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. Iran is preparing to launch the Nahid-1, a communication satellite, into space. The US alleges such satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, maintains its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. Tehran also says it hasn’t violated the UN resolution as it only “called upon” Tehran not to conduct such tests. The tests have taken on new importance to the US amid the maximalist approach to Iran taken by the Trump administration. Tensions have been high between the countries since Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal over a year ago and imposed sanctions, including on Iran’s oil industry. Iran recently has begun to break the accord itself while trying to push Europe to help it sell oil abroad.
September 2, 2019Read More
Lawmakers will decide on Tuesday whether to move Britain one step closer to an early election when they vote on the first stage of their plan to block Prime Minister Boris Johnson from pursuing a no-deal Brexit. Johnson has staked his political future…
September 2, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg) — Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. Britain faces its third election in just over four years after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would rather risk losing office than have his negotiations…
September 2, 2019Read More
Late last week, security researchers from Google’s Project Zero team provided us with fascinating details regarding a sophisticated exploit targeting iPhone users. The exploit itself relied upon a number of 0-day vulnerabilities and, somewhat curiously, indiscriminately installed malware on any device that happened to visit an infected website.Once installed, the malware would collect a user’s photos, private messages, passwords, and even send GPS location data in real-time. Initially, the Project Zero team didn’t mention who was behind the malware or who it targeted, save for a cryptic message that it may have been designed to target a specific ethnic group.A few days later, we now know a little bit more about the origins of the malware. Citing sources familiar with the matter, TechCrunch is reporting that the malware was likely a state-sponsored attack from China targeting the country’s Uyghur Muslim community.”It’s part of the latest effort by the Chinese government to crack down on the minority Muslim community in recent history,” TechCrunch notes. “In the past year, Beijing has detained more than a million Uyghurs in internment camps, according to a United Nations human rights committee.”Additionally, some Muslims in Uyghur areas have actually been banned from fasting during the month of Ramadan in years past.Interestingly, subsequent reports have added that the malware in question didn’t just target iOS users. According to Forbes, the malware campaign also targeted Android and Windows users.Speaking to the sophistication of the attack — which persisted for two years — sources tell Forbes that the malware on impacted sites was routinely updated to adapt to the computing usage habits of the Uyghur community.Apple patched the iOS vulnerabilities back in February, but the broader takeaway here is that even a company as security-minded as Apple can be left playing catch-up when dealing with state-sponsored malware.
September 2, 2019Read More
The explosion marked the third failure involving a rocket at the Iranian center, which has raised suspicions of sabotage in Iran’s space program.
September 2, 2019Read More
Donald Trump has already disrupted the global regime for managing nuclear arms. Should he succeed in winning a second term in the White House, he might well transform that regime entirely. And transformation is long overdue.Past is PrologueNuclear arms…
September 2, 2019Read More
On August 13, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei met with Houthi representatives in Tehran in what was a rare overt display of support. Since the Yemeni civil war began in 2015, Iran had kept the Houthis at arm’s length. However, recent divisions…
September 2, 2019Read More
The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq was deeply opposed by key U.S. allies like France and Germany, who, while they agreed with the U.S. judgment regarding the villainy of Saddam Hussein, disagreed vehemently with the use of military force to solve the probl…
September 2, 2019Read More
The last “sexy” theory is that the space plane is basically a spy satellite with the ability to return to Earth and have its optical sensors periodically upgraded. The X-37 has orbited over some interesting locations, including North Korea, China, ISIS…
September 2, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the U.K. on notice that it may face an election within weeks, as the political crisis engulfing the country’s divorce from the European Union deepens.Johnson will try to trigger a snap general election on…
September 2, 2019Read More
An Afghan official says at least five civilians are dead and around 50 are wounded after a large blast in the capital, Kabul. Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the number of casualties from Monday night’s bombing could grow as the blast d…
September 2, 2019Read More
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