For many of us the image in our minds of Iran is that of a country awash in sand and just coming out of the middle ages. Perhaps that could be true for some remote parts of the country but we too often confuse Iran with an Arabian country, and that it is not.
Yesterday, Iran joined the Space Age as they launched their first satellite into orbit. That may come as a shock to many, but personally I was not that surprised. I have long known Iran is, in reality, a technologically advanced country with aspirations to expand its technology and industry.
The Safir-2 rocket was launched and successfully inserted a satellite into orbit with the name Omid, meaning hope. According to the Iranian news agency the payload is a data processing device intended as "the first practical step toward acquiring national space technology.”
Why is this story important? Not for the knee jerk fear factor I feel sure it will be used as by the right wing, but as a wake up call to our government to begin seriously diplomatic relations with an emerging technological power in the East. We can only ignore Iran for so long, and now with a new administration it seems there might be a chance to bring Iran back to the international table of diplomacy.
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