China successfully sent a new set of test satellites promoting internet technology into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern Sichuan Province on Sunday.
The satellites were launched at 02:07 (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-2D carrier rocket and have entered their preset orbits.
These satellites will be mainly used to carry out technology tests and verifications, including direct satellite-to-phone broadband connectivity and space-ground network integration.
Sunday's launch was the 646th flight mission of the Long March series carrier rockets.
China launches new test satellites for internet technology
Iran's parliament is set to vote on a bill that would formalize the country's management of the Strait of Hormuz, a senior lawmaker said Saturday, while the U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said Washington's blockade of Iranian ports remains in place.
Alaeddin Salimi, a member of the Iranian parliament's presiding board, told the country's semi-official Tasnim News Agency that lawmakers had reached a final decision to codify the management of the Strait of Hormuz and expected the plan to become law.
He said that only Iran and Oman have the right to decide how the Strait of Hormuz should be managed, adding that Iran has begun consultations with Oman, which has expressed preliminary agreement, and that the plan could be finalized in the near future.
Meanwhile, Iran's main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement on Saturday that the Iranian armed forces are exercising management over the Strait of Hormuz with full authority, the official news agency IRNA reported.
The headquarters stressed that for passage through the waterway, all vessels, including commercial ships and oil tankers, are required to travel solely through the routes designated by Iran and obtain permission from the Navy of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).
The headquarters warned that Iran's armed forces will respond to any action by military vessels to interfere in the strait's management or disrupt traffic through it.
Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that he had lifted a naval blockade on Iran, Iranian ships are still being barred from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim news agency reported Saturday.
Citing Iranian sailors, the report said the restrictions remain in place and vessels continue to receive warnings from U.S. Central Command not to enter the area.
In addition, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced on Saturday that 20 vessels crossed the strait within the past 24 hours in coordination with its forces and Iran's maritime authorities.
The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), a U.S.-led multinational naval advisory body, said in a notice issued the same day that the blockade of Iranian ports remains in force and that vessels are prohibited from entering or leaving those ports.
The notice warned that vessels refusing to comply with blockade orders could be disabled or destroyed by U.S. forces.
Iran parliament set to vote on Strait of Hormuz management bill as U.S. blockade persists
