Rouhani moves space program back to ministry
Despite claims by conservative media outlets, President Hassan Rouhani's administration has not closed Iran's space program but returned its direction to the original ministry.
On Jan. 11, a number of conservative media outlets reported that President Hassan Rouhani had closed down a significant part of Iran’s high profile and much publicized space program. However, after Iran’s successful satellite launch on Feb. 3 and Rouhani’s televised statement that the space program will continue, an newspaper affiliated with the administration reported that news of the end of Iran’s space program were politically motivated attacks on the president.
Iran’s space program began in 2004 with parliament’s approval to operate under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology under the leadership of the Supreme Council of Space, which is chaired by the president.
