Does Iran Still Have a Space Program?

I am somewhat confused as to whether the Iranians still have a space program.  Earlier in the week Iran launched an observation satellite - the Fajr ("Dawn") - into an orbit 280 miles above Earth (see rocket photo).  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also stated "Our scientists have entered a new phase for conquering space. We will continue on this path." 

However, the other week I read an article stating Iran was rolling up its space program.  In an article titled "Iran Just Cancelled its Space Program" (a pretty definitive title), the author states,

After six years of massive expenditures and lurid propaganda, on Jan. 9 Tehran shut down its troubled space program. The unceremonious cancellation occurred without notice in the Iranian press.

It is possible that Iran is firing off the last of its rockets, as the previous author suggested at the end of his article.  It also also possible that the space program has simply shifted among ministries and it is now under the defense ministry.  This is not unusual.  Just look at how the US space program is divided between NASA and the Air Force.  NASA lost its shuttle years ago, but the Air Force is still operating its own shuttle on a variety of missions (none of which have been shared with the public). 

As of today, the Iranian Space Agency website is still up and running.  And until recently, Iran was still talking about manned space missions and sharing the cost of an space station with China.  It seems we will need to wait and see, though the recent launch certainly indicates the country maintains the hardware it needs to jump back in at any time (assuming it jumped out of the space race). 

SpaceX Resupply Delays

The International Space Station will need to wait a little longer for its supplies. SpaceX has delayed its Dragon resupply mission until tomorrow (January 10) though it had originally planned to send the mission today after it scrubbed the Tuesday launch. 

While the resupply mission has become routine, the Saturday mission will also attempt to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on an ocean platform (shown above). If successful, we are seeing the first of what should be many more reusable rockets. 

SpaceX continues to push the private sector industry to new heights, though it has plenty of battles back here on the surface.  For instance, it still has a lawsuit against the Pentagon concerning competition for rockets and now the Air Force has delayed its clearance of SpaceX rockets for such competition by another 6 months.  It makes the vacuum of space look enticing.

Update:  Earlier Saturday the launch to the space station was a success but the platform landing of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket failed.  SpaceX is not discouraged and testing will continue.