However, it’s pretty clear by now that Iran does, in fact, have a pretty serious community of scientists, no doubt kept on a very short leash by the mullahs. They did invent the basic principles of rocketry, apparently on their own, and build a space-capable rocket using resources available only in their own country.

The failure of the rocket would be devastating to the Iranian leadership, if their people learned about it, but to a scientist a failure is a new opportunity to learn what doesn’t work. I’m pretty sure they learned a lot from their failed launch, and the next one (there will be a next one) will work a lot better.

Maybe even well enough to drop a payload on Tel Aviv.