Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poked fun at Iran after its recent satellite launch failed. The leader's reaction to the incident has sparked rumours that Israel may have contributed to the launch issues encountered by the space program of state capital Tehran.
For the past couple of weeks, Iran has been reporting on the details of its satellite launch. The Israel and US governments, on the other hand, expressed their disapproval for the country's space program and accused Tehran of using it to improve its ballistic missile capabilities.
Tehran's Failed Satellite Launch
Despite criticisms from other countries, Iran pushed through with the launch of the Zafar 1 satellite through the Simorgh rocket on Sunday. The launch vehicle lifted off from the Imam Khomeini Space Center in northern Iran.
Shortly after taking off, the satellite successfully detached from the rocket. However, an issue prevented the spacecraft from propelling itself into orbit. According to a representative from Iran's Defense Ministry, the satellite lacked the necessary speed to launch into space.
"Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier, but at the end of its path it did not reach the required speed for being put in the orbit," Ahmad Hosseini, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry's space program said according to the Associated Press.
Rumours Of Sabotage
Following the failure of Iran's latest satellite launch, Netanyahu openly mocked Tehran. In a statement, the Israeli prime minister poked fun at Iran's satellite launch while referencing the country's other failures, such as its attempt to transport weapons to Lebanon and Syria as part of the ongoing conflicts in the region.
"We were notified today that Iran failed in launching a satellite," Netanyahu said during the Likud election event according to The Times Of Israel. "Alright. I'll tell you what else they're failing at: in transferring weapons to Syria and Lebanon, because we are operating there all the time, including at this time."
Due to Netanyahu's remarks against Iran, several local media outlets reported on rumours of Israel's involvement in the latest issue encountered by Iran's space program. Of course, these are only speculations and Israel's link to Iran's satellite launch failure has not been confirmed.
