Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard claimed last week to have put its first military satellite into orbit, revealing in the process a secret space program that fuels already-escalating tensions between the U.S. and Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The launch followed an April 15 incident in which nearly a dozen Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps<\/a> vessels harassed six U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, an action that prompted President Donald Trump <\/a>to tweet instructions for the \u201cUnited States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iranian state TV claimed the launch, which used a \u201cMessenger\u201d satellite carrier to put the device into space, was a resounding success, boasting that the satellite orbited the Earth within 90 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday, the world\u2019s powerful armies do not have a comprehensive defense plan without being in space, and achieving this superior technology that takes us into space and expands the realm of our abilities is a strategic achievement,\u201d Iran Revolutionary Guard Gen. Hossein Salami said following the launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reaction by U.S. officials, meanwhile, was swift, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling for Iran to be \u201cbe held accountable for what it\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. John Hyten acknowledged that the satellite \u201cwent a very long way,\u201d but could not confirm whether the satellite was orbiting the Earth and providing reliable imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mystery of the satellite\u2019s operational capability was potentially solved Saturday when Space Force Gen. Jay Raymond, the recently appointed commander of the military\u2019s sixth branch \u2014 the subject of a spoof Netflix sitcom starring Steve Carell<\/a> \u2014 took to Twitter to scoff at the proclamations coming out of Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Raymond, U.S. Space Command \u2014 personnel from Peterson Air Force Base and the 18th Space Control Squadron \u2014 were tracking two separate objects associated with the Iranian satellite launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIran states it has imaging capabilities \u2014 actually, it\u2019s a tumbling webcam in space\u201d that is unlikely providing anything resembling valuable intelligence, Raymond wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The chief of space operations then layered the icing on the troll job with the hashtag #spaceishard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n