Defence Intelligence Agency says Tehran expanding military, civilian space programmes
Washington
Iran is “emerging” as a space power capable of challenging United States military operations in the Middle East, despite American strikes on key Iranian space-related facilities, according to a Pentagon intelligence report.
The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) said in the report that Iran took offensive action against US space capabilities during Operation Epic Fury, using land-based jamming systems that could disrupt satellite-based GPS signals.
It said that Tehran was expanding its military and civilian space programmes to strengthen its military capabilities, economic development and national prestige.
“Space is accessible and affordable today,” Brigadier General Todd Benson, commander of Space Forces Central, said at a Mitchell Institute webinar last month.
Iran has around a dozen operational satellites, according to the American Enterprise Institute’s space data, while the US operates more than 1,000 times as many.
Tehran has also reportedly received satellite support from China and Russia to improve its intelligence and targeting capabilities.
Despite US claims of achieving “space superiority” against Iran, some American defence experts questioned that assessment.
“If Iran can degrade US space capabilities, we don’t have superiority” over it, Todd Harrison, an aerospace expert at the American Enterprise Institute, told Axios.
The DIA said Iran is also working to improve the resistance of its guidance and navigation systems to electronic attacks.
Iranian, Omani foreign ministers discuss regional developments amid Strait of Hormuz tensions
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi discussed regional developments and diplomatic efforts to promote peace and stability during a phone call on Thursday morning, the Iranian government said.
The talks came amid escalating tensions over a US naval blockade and maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, as Qatar continued mediating between Washington and Tehran.
Between Iran and Oman, the strait is one of the world’s most strategically important waterways, carrying large volumes of oil and gas exports from Gulf countries to international markets.
Iran said on Monday it was still exchanging messages with the US through mediators and that reopening the waterway depended on Washington ending the blockade.
Iran’s IRGC says oil tanker struck naval mine, forced to stop
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said an oil tanker operating in violation, travelling through an “unsafe zone” east of the Strait of Hormuz, struck a naval mine, igniting a fire and forcing the vessel to stop on Thursday morning.
Earlier on Thursday, the IRGC said that two oil tankers and a tugboat had caught fire in separate incidents after attempting to use unauthorised routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency, the Revolutionary Guard said a large oil tanker struck a mine Wednesday night while attempting to pass through an “unauthorised route” south of the strait.
The tanker caught fire and stopped, the statement said.
In a separate incident, another supertanker caught fire while leaving the route in the eastern part of the strait, it said.
A tugboat approaching to help extinguish the blaze also caught fire, the statement added.
