Launching Site in Iran Raises Missile Worries

NYTimes.com

Iran has built a previously undisclosed launching site and space center near the northeastern city of Shahrud that could theoretically be used for testing ballistic missiles, according to satellite imagery reported on Thursday by IHS Jane’s, an authoritative weapons research publication based in London.

In a report posted on its Web site, Jane’s said its analysis of the satellite imagery showed that the new site, about 220 miles east of Tehran near the Caspian Sea, had been developed over the past three years and would be one of three launching sites in Iran’s space program.

Iranian officials have said they are intent on developing rockets capable of sending astronauts into space, and have alluded to the construction of a new site as part of that goal, but had never specified its location.

The Jane’s report was likely to be viewed with concern by Western officials and Israel. They have expressed suspicions that Iran’s ballistic missile development is part of what they view as the country’s ambition to build nuclear weapons that can be mounted on missile warheads. Iran has denied such ambitions.

The report said the Shahrud site had a launching tower approximately 70 feet tall, identical to one at a site near the city of Semnan, which is about 150 miles east of Tehran. It said both sites might be used to launch the Simorgh rocket, which Iran introduced in 2010 as a way to carry orbital satellites into space, or even bigger rockets.

Jane’s said Iran’s development of the new site, despite the rising economic pressures because of Western sanctions, might be interpreted by some analysts as evidence that the Iranian military wants multiple locations capable of firing ballistic missiles as part of a deterrent strategy against attack. But the report also expressed strong skepticism of such an interpretation.

More likely, the report said, is that the multiple launching sites “reflect the scale of Iran’s ambitious space program.” Iran took a significant step toward manned spaceflight in January, when it put a monkey into space.