Early hours of this morning, July 6, 2020, Israel launched the “Ofek 16” spy satellite into orbit.
Following the escalation of tensions with Islamic Republic, the Israeli government decided to increase its military capabilities, adding to the army’s intelligence abilities by launching the Electro-optical satellite, “Ofek 16”. The Israeli Defense Ministry said the launch was successful and that Ofek 16 was already in orbit and data was being transferred according to the plan.
“Ofek 16” is a joint product of the Ministry of Defense and “Israeli Aerospace Industries”. The satellite was launched by a Shavit rocket from the Palmachim base near Tel Aviv.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz spoke about the launch of the military satellite as “another extraordinary achievement for the country’s defense system.” “The technological superiority and intelligence capabilities are essential to the security of the State of Israel,” he said.
Amos Yadlin, former head of Israel’s Army’s intelligence service, tweeted: “Ofek 16 gives Israel special strategic and intelligence capabilities. There is no need to explain the importance of this achievement in these days when the possibility of conflict and tension with Iran has increased. ”
Following the recent mysterious explosions in Parchin and Natanz nuclear facility, possibility of cyberattacks as the cause of the explosions came to media attention and political analysts, which IranTrue has published articles about the various theories and analysis.
“We take actions that are better left unsaid,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi was quoted by the online magazine Der Spiegel on Sunday in response to a question about dangers and threats of Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Benny Gants, however, in contrast to the Foreign Minister, said: ” Not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with us.” According to Jerusalem Post, Amnon Harari, Head of the Defense Ministry’s Space and Satellite Administration, said, Iran’s space program is “a threat that we have to monitor” despite the failures they’ve had in recent years. “Iran is investing a lot into building its space power and program,” he said. “The effort is there and we should assume that eventually, they will reach a significant level in this area. Although to achieve technology like Ofek 16 will take a long time, its a threat we have to monitor.”
Since its inception, the Islamic Republic has threatened to destroy Israel and “wipe it out of the map.” Ali Khamenei, on Quds Day on May 22, 2020, gave a new meaning to this threat during a speech and called “Israel” a “cancerous tumor” that “must be eradicated.”
Translation of this post by Sahar.
