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TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran said it successfully launched its first domestically produced satellite into orbit on Sunday, a move that could further exacerbate tensions with the West over its nuclear drive.
“President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad was at the lanch of the communications satellite Omid (Hope) from Iran’s space station,” government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said, according to the Fars news agency.
“It was launched into space on his order,” it added.
A statement from the Iranian armed forces said it was the first launch of the domestically-built satellite, the official news agency IRNA reported.
“The second launch of the Safir (ambassador) rocket carrying the first satellite Omid was conducted successfully,” the statement said.
Iranian state television also broadcast footage of the satellite heading into space.
Sunday’s launch comes amid a standoff between Iran and the international community over Tehran’s refusal to suspend sensitive nuclear work — which some Western countries fear could be used to make an atomic bomb.
“The achievement has drawn much attention from around the world, especially from among Muslim nations, as Iran is under heavy sanctions by the West and the UN Security Council, making it develop the technology and build every part and equipment needed in the field of aerospace,” Fars said.
In February, Iran said it had sent a probe into space on the back of a rocket on a mission to prepare for the satellite launch, a move Ahmadinejad lauded as a national success
It was however condemned by the United States, Iran’s arch-foe which is leading the campaign against its nuclear drive, and Russia had also voiced concern.
At the time, Mohsen Mir Shams, the deputy head of Iran’s space organisation, said the satellite would be put into orbit at a altitude of 650 kilometres (400 miles) above the earth, passing over Iran six times every 24 hours.
Iran has pursued a space programme for several years, and in October 2005 a Russian-made Iranian satellite named Sina-1 was put into orbit by a Russian rocket.
“This satellite, the rocket and the launch station are entirely Iranian-built, achieved by particularly talented scientists and technicians,” Ahmadinejad told reporters during his trip to Istanbul on Friday, IRNA reported.
The armed forces said Sunday’s launch coincided with the anniversary of the birth of the eight century Imam Mahdi, who vanished as a boy and whom Shiites believe will return one day as the messiah.
Iran is risking a possible fourth round of UN sanctions after it failed to give a clear response to an incentives package offered by six major world powers in return for halting its uranium enrichment activities.
Iran has however said it was ready to hold more talks with the European Union on the package offered by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.