US 'not overly concerned' about Iran satellite 'tumbling' in space, Joint Chiefs chair says
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The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the satellite Iran launched last month is currently "tumbling" in space.
"The satellite itself -- not overly concerned about it," Army Gen. Mark Milley told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday afternoon alongside the defense secretary.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guard said last month it put up a “Noor," or light, satellite into a low orbit circling the Earth after using a mobile launcher at a new launch site.
U.S. Space Force commander Gen. Jay Raymond gave his military assessment on Twitter of the satellite at the time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Iran states it has imaging capabilities—actually, it’s a tumbling webcam in space," he tweeted.
The space general said the satellite is “unlikely” giving Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) any meaningful intelligence.
IRGC said it was their first military satellite launched into space.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The arms embargo on Iran linked to the landmark nuclear agreement expires in October.
The U.S. military's top officer admitted Tuesday that the Iranian missile technology to launch the satellite April 22: "that is a concern."
"Different missiles can do different things and one can carry a satellite another can carry some sort of device that can explode," Milley added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The bottom line is, yes, it is a security concern anytime Iran is testing any type of long-range missile."
Senior U.S. officials have long warned the same technology used to put a satellite into space is also used to make long-range missiles capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.
“Their secret space program advances technologies used in nuclear weapons delivery systems,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned in a tweet last month.
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Pompeo later said the launch of a military satellite is proof “Iran’s space program is neither peaceful nor entirely civilian."
"For years, Iran has claimed its space program is purely peaceful and civilian. The Trump Administration has never believed this fiction,” Pompeo said in a statement April 25.