Satellite images suggest Iran preparing for rocket launch

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran appears to be readying for a space launch as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran’s nuclear program. The images Tuesday from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. Iran did not acknowledge a forthcoming launch at the space port and its mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, it has said it hoped to have seven homemade satellites ready for launch by the end of the Persian calendar year in March 2023.