By Finian Cunningham

April 24, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - No wonder the US reacted with fury this week when Iran launched a satellite 465 kilometers into space. In baseball terms, the Iranians just hit the US ball out of the park.

Mike Pompeo, America's top diplomat, is demanding more sanctions against Iran over what he claimed was a violation of UN resolutions outlawing Iranian military missiles in space. He called on the "Iranian regime" to prioritise resources in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and to end its campaign of global terror".

You have to hand it to Pompeo for his total lack of awareness of America's own absurdity. 

Pompeo cited UN Resolution 2231 which pertains to the 2015 international nuclear accord with Iran – the same accord that the Trump administration dumped in May 2018. So, Washington wants Iran to abide by resolutions relating to a treaty that is non-existent, as far as the US is concerned.

In any case, Iran says that its communication satellite does not violate UN resolutions because it is not for an offensive military purpose. Russia has reportedly backed the Iranian viewpoint.

Pompeo points to the involvement of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the launch as somehow indicative of malign intent ignoring the fact that military and space technology are historically deeply entwined. None more so than in the US space ventures, which originated from Nazi V2 rocket science. 

The US lecturing to Iran about a military satellite comes only weeks after President Trump has ordered the establishment of a new Space Force which opens up weaponization of space – in contravention of an international treaty forbidding such development.