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Published online 5 February 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.556
Updated online: 18 February 2008

News: Briefing

Iran's space shot

Does Iran's missile test mean it has joined the 'space club'?

On 4 February, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a rocket from a new space centre in Semnan province. Iran's government news service trumpeted the launch as the nation's first "space research rocket".

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  • This is a very cynical review for a significant advancement made by Iran. Everybody has to start somewhere and Iran has made much more advancement after 30 years of scanctions and isolations than many US friendly countries. First of all the assumption of writer that this rocket is Shahab 3 is not factual and he has no evidence for it so he needed to clarify this in the article. Secondly everytime you see Iran to make a step forward western countries have two simultaneous reactions: 1) They try to undermine and minimize the achievement because its difficult for them to accept a third world country outside of their circle of influence to make progress. 2) They exagerate the threat posed by such an achievement from the security point of view so they can increase the international pressure and scantions. These type of approach just indicates a double standard and has no objectivity. Every country has a right to progress and Iran is exactly doing that whether some countries like it or not.

    • 05 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: Cyrus Marcus
  • I think the above article had focused the threat or danger of a Muslim state standing at par with others. This is really the evil spirit of the west toward Islam since the birth of Islam. The God has warned Muslims since 1428 years ago that infidel or the west will never support them until they are one of them (munafiqun). To keep the world power balanced, and to avoid any further invasion after Iraq and Afghanistan, every conuntry in this world has the right to develop its own defence system including nuclear weapon. If US has nuclear weapon, and nobody complains about it, why not Iran, Hamas, or ....... The west is really double standard. God will punish the west double; unjust actions as well as infidelity. Think about it all westeners.

    • 05 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: mad wee
  • No matter what Iran is thinking, Iran is still a third world country and as far as technology goes, they cannot keep up with the technology of well-developed countries such as Israel and the US. So this launch of Explorer 1 will not be a threat to the US. It is sad that with all the well-knowledge scientists in Iran, they cannot use their knowledge in making something useful for the people because the government is controlling them for its own use of terrorist activity.

    • 05 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: Manny H
  • I am concerned because it is written in the predictions in many scriptures that the iranian nation will go to finally confront the jewish anti-christ. I urge everyone to watch the khomeini's live video series of 10 hours and it seems that the guy had miraculous personality. Israeli savak had left a big footprint in iran before khomeini. the israelis and iranians are therefore intertwined in the age of shah and also in the age of cyrus. The first imam of the iranian shias, ali was the one who personaly chopped the head of every male jew after conquering the fortress of khyber and as a punishment for breaking a mutual defense treaty and aiding the enemy. I am just stating the history. i have no opinions. khomeini was an amazingly logical man. at the same time, he had no fear. he could take losses of martyrs, including his own son. when his son died, he did not even cry. he did his daily duties and came back for burial. . in his last month of life, he sent a letter to gorbachev giving him incisive analysis of the problems of USSR. time has proven his analysis to be correct. the 10hour video series is an amazing series on the life of a man. he was the most successful revolutionary of his time. while lenin died miserably, khomeini died a winner. his spirit will guide the iranian nation for a long time. he was a man of total submission to G-d, and a man of very high IQ. As far as scientific aspect of this is concerned, iran is making more progress under the present regime than under the past regime when there were no sanctions.

    • 05 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: aaa bbb
  • Dears i surprised from you !do you think emam khomeini could win revolution or people of iran could defeat SHAH's regim . i should tell you ,you think very wrong.you (west)with no reson forget the kindly GOD .un beliveing to GOD unfortunately.perhaps for this reason that the GOD donot punish you on to present.it have some reasons one is : the GOD say in THE QORAN "we can punish corrupts and cruels very easy but we donot do this in most case because of test of people and to clear real piouses from evil-doing and hypocrites ".i am amazing from you !.if you find a sun dried brick on the ground quickly say and belive a man (intelligent being) have make it (in spite of existence of water, sun and clay on the ground) .are yourself and all of our world and other live beings and infinite space and stars and .... simple than a brick? that have no need to a intelligent creator .fear from your actions ,speeches and your thoughes .arithmetical ratio of a man to sun is as same as 0.03 atom H to a man .please comparsion your self with galaxy and then to dimensions of all infinite space . we are nothing, realy nothing the GOD should do no act or movment for destruction of all of us (no one men).fear from hell's flames that yourself ignit it. I wish GOD guiding you an I wish you Be into shelter of kindly GOD

    • 06 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: dana mahi
  • I'm amazed by the extraordinary comments posted here, i think apart from Iran's propoganda about entering space, Iran genuinely wants to make space rockets and satellites, and it will, the prestige that Iran will gain from putting a satellite into orbit will be equal to having a nuclear bomb, once Iran does put a satellite into space on it's own, it's gonna shake up that region and add a huge credibility to Iran's claims of it's leadership and prowess.

    • 06 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: zeej lemann
  • I see many readers honour Iranian govrnors for this new (with 50 years of delay) technology. If you like Ahmadinejad, please come here live in Iran as me to find out who will reach nuclear technology in near future.

    • 06 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: mane ma
  • First the article seems to be a bit biased in terms of not making it clear that there are a set of assumptions the author has used to write it down. This si a possible conjecture lets leave it at that and see how things fan out. Having said this some of the comments on the forum are despicable. I remind everybody this is a forum on the website of one of the most respected scientific journals in the world. It is appropriate that we comment based on hard facts and conjecture based on science. Lets not bring in personal beliefs let alone ones which border on fanaticm and jingoism into the discussion.

    • 06 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: sandeep raghunathan
  • The translated name "Explorer 1" will have no connection whatsoever with the name of the United States' first satellite, launched 50 years ago. By international agreement, space begins at an altitude of 100km and therefore the Iranian launch did reach space.

    • 06 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: Phillip Clark
  • Some of the comments are despicable but the worst is the focus of the article which is tendentious in the sense of minimizing a mayor effort in developing technologies in the third world and remarking the launch instead of as a scientific achievement as a potential military risk for USA and UK. Is really sad that the editorial line of NATURE allows such inflaming approach.

    • 06 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: yuri nahmad
  • There's an interesting post on a blog here: http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/1792/forden-on-the-shahab-3 . It says that a bit of debris was spotted coming off the rocket. This hints that the test was not totally successful.

    • 13 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: Emmanuel Wirfel