Region | Iran

Iran test fires rocket, fuels US worries

Iran has test-fired a rocket to carry a research satellite into space, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 18:39 August 17, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: AP
  • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inspects the Safir satellite-carrier rocket before it was launched on Sunday.

Tehran: Iran has test-fired a rocket to carry a research satellite into space, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

"Iran's Omid satellite was launched on Sunday by using Safir satellite-carrier rocket," IRNA quoted a statement published by Iran's armed forces.

The report concern from senior US officials who said Iran could use the rocket to deliver warheads.

US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said on Monday the test is “troubling and raises further questions about their intentions."

Iran is facing tension with Western countries and the UN Security Council over its controversial nuclear program.

In Israel, experts and officials voiced mixed reactions to the rocket launch.

Israel Army Radio on Monday quoted a senior Israeli security official as saying that the test "underscores Iran's military ambitions."

An Israeli expert, Tal Inbar, said the test was a "turning point", which had "far-reaching consequences for Israel's security."

However, Israeli lawmaker Yitzhak Ben Israel, the former head of Israel's space agency, downplayed it as Iranian "propaganda".

"It is just an attempt to scare the Israeli public, which is apparently working pretty well, with all the superfluous media coverage," he told Israel Army Radio.

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