Iran pushes to increase ballistic-missile range to cover Europe

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Iran pushes to increase ballistic-missile range to cover Europe
By: Michael Segall - Jewish News Syndicate - 01-26-22
Re: https://www.jns.org/iran-pushes-to-i...-cover-europe/

Through the recent engine tests and the launch of satellites at the end of December—in the midst of nuclear negotiations—Tehran has made it clear that it does not intend to compromise on the issue of missile development.

Photo display: https://cdn.jns.org/uploads/2020/09/...am-880x495.jpg
A display of Iranian missiles on Aug. 22, 2019. Credit: Hamid Tavakoli/Wikimedia Commons.

(January 26, 2022 / Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) While negotiations in Vienna on the nuclear issue continue sluggishly without a breakthrough, Iran continues to exert pressure and threaten the negotiating partners. Moreover, Iran is more than just implying that it has other options if no arrangement is reached, including linking the advanced nuclear capabilities it has reached in the past year and its ballistic missiles that could reach Europe.

A conservative Iranian newspaper close to the regime recently reported that a solid-fuel engine tested in Iran could increase Iranian missile range to 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles), threatening European countries. The newspaper also praised President Ebrahim Raisi’s government, which, unlike its predecessor, exhibits an uncompromising negotiating position with the West, particularly where developing Iran’s missile capabilities is concerned.

Through the recent engine tests and the launch of satellites at the end of December—in the midst of nuclear negotiations—Iran has made it clear that it does not intend to compromise on the issue of missile development.

The new engine, composite rocket, and a 3,000-mile range

Iran’s Farhikhtegan newspaper reported on Jan. 15 that Iran aspires to increase its ballistic-missile range and that its development of a 5,000-km. (3,000-mile)-range missile is “closer than ever.”2.

The newspaper, which belongs to the Open University (Azad-e-Islami) and is associated with the conservatives of the Iranian regime, quoted recent remarks by Brig.-Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Corps. The paper interpreted his remarks as an indication that Iran plans to increase its range of ballistic missiles.

Hajizadeh announced a “successful test” of a new Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) engine called the “Raafe.”9 He appeared before clerics in Qoms and said that over the past two years, a series of tests had been carried out on a solid-fueled satellite launcher rocket.

He also revealed that the body of the new satellite launcher is of composite design, not metallic.10 The design and removal of liquid fuel pumps lighten the rocket, allowing for longer ranges or larger payloads. He added that Iran’s aviation and missile ability could not be curbed through “assassinations, threats and sanctions.”11

According to Farhikhtegan, the test indicates significant progress in the missile field. The newspaper added that although Iran has announced that it does not want to build ballistic missiles with a range of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles), the new engine could allow it to pass that range and even approach the 5,000-km. (3,000-mile) range.

The newspaper recalled 2017 remarks by Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the IRGC, to the Europeans that if they wanted to bring the issue of Iran’s missile capability into the nuclear talks, Tehran could increase its missile range so that the range would cover the distance between Iran and Europe.

The United States considers Iran’s satellite launchers to be a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which was approved in July 2015. According to the resolution, Iran was “called upon” not to take any action involving ballistic missiles “designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”

Iran’s space programs, which were “dormant” under former President Hassan Rouhani, were accelerated as part of the Iranian response to the U.S. exit from the nuclear deal and now also serve as leverage for pressure on the West during the nuclear talks.

Iran’s conservatives, the missile test and the Vienna talks

Farhikhtegan criticized former President Hassan Rouhani, writing that while it “had tried to curtail the country’s missile tests and space drills to prevent any criticism from the West during the Vienna talks, the current government does not want to find favor in the West. … And, in fact, Ebrahim Raisi’s government sees these experiments as a means of pressure on the other side of the talks.”

The newspaper mentioned that the West had already made considerable efforts to bring Iran’s missile and regional activities into the framework of the nuclear talks (until the end of Rouhani’s government). However, Tehran, while negotiating to revive the nuclear deal, is working aggressively to remove the issue of missiles from the talks.

Farhikhtegan praised the Raisi government, noting that “while there appears to have been some progress in the nuclear talks, the West has not stopped threatening Iran through escalating sanctions. Therefore, Tehran insists on the core issues to persuade the West to take clearer positions. …Tehran’s strong emphasis on strengthening its military capability shows that as Western pressure intensifies, Iran will expand its military testing, in addition to increasing the scope of its regional campaign.”

On Dec. 30, Iran launched a liquid-fueled Simorgh SLV. However, it appears that the launch failed because its satellites failed to enter into orbit. Following the launch, Iran fended off criticism in the West of the launch, arguing Iran had the right to launch satellites.

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency found that “the new Simorgh (Safir-2) SLV could be capable of ICBM ranges if configured as a ballistic missile.”12

About this writer: IDF Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall is a senior analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and at Acumen Risk Advisors.