Trump Ramps Up Secret Program to Sabotage Iran’s Rockets

According to administration officials, President Trump has ordered the escalation of a “secret” government program to try to sabotage Iranian rockets. Officials say the goal is to “undercut Tehran’s military and isolate its economy.”

This is in keeping with Trump’s general hostility toward Iran, though officials concede it’s impossible to know what, if anything, the secret program has accomplished. Some point to recent failures to put Iranian satellites in orbit as a sign of success.

Yet the merits of such a program are unclear at best. While the US and Israel both were very open about trying to sabotage Iranian nuclear efforts,when they had such programs at all, keeping Iranian satellites out of space is not exactly a noble military goal, and the costs of a secret program are likely far beyond what such an achievement would be worth.

The US has angrily opposed the idea of Iran trying to put anything into space, claiming a UN nuclear resolution forbade conventional launches of satellites. Iran has ruled out giving up on this, however.