Iran ran an undeclared missile test??

Dubai: The news agency Associated Press reported that Iran carried out an undeclared missile test at its Imam Khomeini Spaceport, citing satellite photos.

Iran did not formally acknowledge the test last week, which was carried out at a circular pad that hosted other major launches by the country's civilian space programme. A single lawmaker in Iran's parliament, however, claimed, without offering evidence, that Tehran tested a possible intercontinental ballistic missile, the Associated Press reported.

The test and the claim raise concerns that Iran may be trying to expand the reach of its missiles as tensions remain high ahead of United Nations sanctions, which are likely to be reimposed this weekend over Tehran's nuclear programme, as it also repairs missile sites that were struck by the Israelis.

Last Thursday, September 18, Iranian social media users posted images of the sky over Semnan province, showing what appeared to be a rocket's contrail at sunset. Iranian officials did not acknowledge what caused the contrail, nor did Iranian state media report on the incident.

Satellite photos taken prior to that by Planet Labs PBC show the circular pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport — about 230 kilometres southeast of Iran's capital, Tehran, in Semnan — painted blue, ringed with red, white and green lines — the colours of the Iranian flag.

However, in satellite images since September 18, the pad appeared discoloured, though it wasn't fully clear until a more detailed Planet image requested by the AP was taken this Wednesday.

That image shows significant scorch marks, the pattern of which resembles scorching seen at the pad following past launches. When rockets launch, the flames from their engines pour down onto pads.

“Israel's successes in the 12-day war against Iran's missile attacks reinforced for Tehran the importance of developing more ballistic missiles and qualitatively better versions of them,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an analyst at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The think tank has long been critical of Iran and has been sanctioned by Tehran.

“Consider this part of Tehran's efforts to build back better, and as quickly as possible,” he added.