IRAN LAUNCHES HOME-BUILT SATELLITE ROCKET

Iran said it sent a home-built rocket carrying a dummy satellite into space on August 17. “The Safir (Ambassador) rocket was successfully launched. All its systems are Iranian-made,” Reza Taghipour, head of Iran’s Space Agency, told state television. Iran also announced that it had extended the range of its military aircraft to just over 1,800 miles without the need to refuel.