Illustrative: Iran’s domestically built missiles and satellite carriers are displayed in a permanent exhibition at a recreational area in northern Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran claimed on Wednesday that it has successfully put an imaging satellite into space.
The state-run IRNA news agency, quoting the country’s Communication Minister Isa Zarepour, said the Noor-3 satellite had been put in an orbit 450 kilometers (280 miles) above the Earth’s surface.
There was no immediate acknowledgment from Western officials of the launch or of the satellite being put into orbit. Iran has had a series of failed launches in recent years.
Zarepour said the aerospace arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched the satellite carrier, which has had success in launching satellites from its previously secret launch program. Authorities did not immediately release images of the launch.
The United States has alleged that Iran’s satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and has called on Tehran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The US intelligence community’s 2022 threat assessment claims such a satellite launch vehicle “shortens the timeline” to an intercontinental ballistic missile for Iran as it uses “similar technologies.”
Iran, which has long claimed it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained that its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. Israel accuses it of secretly continuing a nuclear weapons program Tehran says it abandoned in 2003, noting uranium enrichment to levels that have no civilian use and repeated threats to annihilate the Jewish state.
During his UNGA speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that “Iran must face a credible nuclear threat,” a statement the PMO later retracted.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi(photo credit: REUTERS/FLASH90)
Iran will not hesitate to react to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “threat regarding nuclear weapons” made during his United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) speech, Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani condemned in a Tuesday letter to the UN.
The Iranian response to Netanyahu’s speech was reported on Wednesday by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). IRNA is funded and operated by the Iranian government.
“We will not hesitate to exercise our legitimate and inherent rights to defend our national interests,” the ambassador wrote in the letter, according to IRNA.
“By order of our government, I would like to draw the Security Council’s attention to the recent alarming and serious threat by the Israeli Prime Minister regarding the use of nuclear weapons against Iran,” Iravani wrote.
During his UNGA speech, Netanyahu asserted that “Iran must face a credible nuclear threat.” adding, “As long as I’m Prime Minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”
Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani is seen on a screen as he speaks to delegates before a vote on a resolution recognizing Russia must be responsible for reparation in Ukraine at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, U.S., November 14, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ)
The Prime Minister’s Office clarified Netanyahu’s comments after the General Assembly speech, saying that the prime minister meant to say “military threat.” According to the report, the Prime Minister’s office noted that a “military threat” rather than a “nuclear threat” was what had been written down in the prime minister’s speech notes.
Iran: Nuclear weapons pose a threat to humanity’s existence
“Considering that nuclear weapons pose a threat to the existence of humanity and the planet Earth, such a threat is incomparable in intensity and sends a shockwave to the international community, especially when such a threat is articulated from a credible forum like the United Nations General Assembly,” Iravani continued in the letter. “The use or even the mere threat of using nuclear weapons, regardless of circumstances, by anyone, at any time, and in any place, constitutes a clear violation of international laws.”
The Iranian ambassador added that the threat was especially serious as it comes from Israel, a nation whose government the letter describes as an “illegitimate regime” that is guilty of apartheid and support for terrorism.
hreatened to launch nuclear war on Iran – UN envoy
The Shin Bet arrested five suspects, three Palestinians and two Israelis, who were recruited by Iran to carry out terror attacks.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, MICHAEL STARRUpdated: SEPTEMBER 27, 2023 19:27HEAD OF THE Otzma Yehudit party MK Itamar Ben-Gvir arrives at the scene of Wednesday’s bombing at the exit to Jerusalem(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
An Iranian-led terrorist cell targeting National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Israel was arrested by the Shin Bet, the security agency announced on Wednesday.
The five-man cell, consisting of three Palestinians and two Israeli citizens, were tasked with gathering intelligence in order to harm security personnel, senior public officials and political figures including Ben-Gvir and former Knesset member Yehuda Glick. An indictment filed by Haifa District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday said that the cell’s Iranian handler explicitly sought the assasination of Glick, giving the cell a photograph of the ex-MK.
Ben-Gvir said that he would not be deterred by the news, and would continue to implement policies on the conditions of imprisoned terrorists, counterterrorism, and prayer rights on the Temple Mount.
“I commend the Shin Bet personnel and the security forces who exposed and captured the terrorist cell that intended to assassinate an Israeli minister,” Ben-Gvir wrote on social media.
Yehuda Glick thanked God and said that he would continue to work to create cooperation between Jews and non-Jews.
“To the security forces who are constantly in contact with me, thank you for your intensive activity for the security of Israel,” said Glick.
The five suspects arrested by Shin Bet on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 (credit: SHIN BET)
Iran tells Israelis to set cars on fire
Kafr Dan resident Murad Kamamja met an Iranian citizen known as Hassan Zakharna in Jordan in 2022, who informed him multiple times that he was an Iranian intelligence asset according to the indictment. Zakharna asked Kamamja to smuggle weaponry from Jordan into Judea and Samara, and to create chaos by setting fire to vehicles and gas stations, breaking windows of businesses.
Kamamja recruited Jenin resident Hassan Mujarima, who was a prior acquaintance, who suggested they have Jenin resident Ziad Shanti join the cell. Shanti recruited two Israeli citizens, Yusuf Hamad and Hamad Hamadi, who were respectively from Mukiblah and Nazareth.
Hamadi was contracted and paid by Shanti to smuggle five infiltrators from Jordan into Israel in March. Hamadi met with Shanti for consultation for further smuggling, but turned down requests to photograph a senior police officer in Holon, transport drugs and ammunition.
Shanti contracted Hamadi in June to set fire to cars belonging to Jews and film the results. Hamadi, who was offered NIS 5000 per vehicle destroyed, sub-contracted Hamad to help him with the task for NIS 1000 per vehicle. Together, the two set four cars on fire in Haifa. The Shin Bet suspected that this was a test mission for further sabotage missions and to see if the Israeli operatives were willing to act on their behalf.
The Shin Bet said it views the involvement of Israeli citizens in terrorist plots “very seriously,” and that further indictments over the next few days for the suspects detained by Israeli security forces.
The investigation illustrated Iran’s efforted to undermine security, social, and political stability in Israel, said the Shin Bet, utilizing a modus operandi of using citizens with criminal backgrounds and enticing them with monetary reward.
This is not the first time criminal elements have been hired to facilitate Iranian espionage and terrorist action. In August four Arab Israelis were indicted for smuggling and distributing Hezbollah drugs and Iranian explosives. One of the suspects had intended to use one of the explosive devices for a criminal plot.
