Iran took a “big step” toward sending astronauts into space by 2020, successfully launching a monkey above the Earth’s atmosphere, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state television.
Washington however said if the report on the launch was true, then Iran might have violated a UN resolution banning it from any activity relating to ballistic missile technology.
Arabic-language channel al-Alam and other Iranian news agencies said the monkey returned alive on Monday after travelling in a capsule to an altitude of 120km for a sub-orbital flight.
“This success is the first step toward man conquering space and it paves the way for other moves,” Vahidi said, but added that the process of putting a human into space would be a lengthy one.
“Today’s successful launch follows previous successes we had in launching [space] probes with other living creatures [on board],” he said, referring to the launch in the past of a rat, turtles and worms into space.
“The monkey which was sent in this launch landed safely and alive and this is a big step for our experts and scientists,” Vahidi said.
Iranian state television showed still pictures of the capsule and of a monkey being fitted with a vest and then placed in a device similar to a child’s car seat.
A previous attempt in 2011 by the Islamic republic to put a monkey into space failed. No official explanation was ever given.
A defense ministry statement quoted by Iranian media said earlier that Iran had “successfully launched a capsule, codenamed Pishgam (Pioneer), containing a monkey and recovered the shipment on the ground intact.”
It did not give details on the timing or location of the launch.
Earlier this month Iran announced its intention to launch a monkey into orbit as part of “preparations for sending a man into space,” which it aims to do by 2020.
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has indicated on several occasions the intention to launch an astronaut for “observation” purposes by Iran’s scientists.
A deputy minister for science, Mohammad Mehdinejad-Nouri, said in October 2011 that human space flight was a “strategic priority” for the country.
In Washington, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said she could not confirm whether the launch had really taken place.
“Our concern with Iran’s development of space launch vehicle technologies are obviously well-known,” she said.
“Any space launch vehicle capable of placing an object in orbit is directly relevant to the development of long-range ballistic missiles ... and they’re all virtually identical and interchangeable,” Nuland said.
UN resolution 1929 prohibited Iran from any such work, she added.
Iran’s space program unsettles Western nations, which fear it could be used to develop missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The UN Security Council has imposed on Iran an almost total embargo on nuclear and space technologies since 2007.
Tehran has repeatedly denied that its nuclear and scientific programs mask military ambitions.
Iran’s previous satellite launches — Omid in February 2009, Rassad in June 2011 and Navid in February last year — were met by condemnation from the West which accused Tehran of “provocation.”
SPEAKING OUT: After Siranudh Scott’s allegations surfaced, celebrities and public figures took to social media to share their own experiences of sexual misconduct and abuse A high-profile alleged sexual abuse case within a wealthy Thai beer brewing family has prompted a wave of painful accounts from survivors of unconnected abuse in the conservative nation. Siranudh Scott, a member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the ubiquitous Singha beer brand, posted an emotional video this month accusing his elder brother Sunit of repeatedly abusing him when he was a teenager. Sunit, who is in his 30s, later denied the allegations in a video posted online, but Singha parent Boonrawd dismissed him from his executive role with the company on Tuesday last week. “I felt I needed to speak
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
COMMUNITY CONFLICT: Concerns about disease spread from corpses has run up against friends and families’ desire to bury their dead as infection spreads in the area Angry residents of a town at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) attacked and burned a tent that was part of a health center where people are being treated for the virus, the staff there said Saturday. It was the second such attack in the region in a week. No one was hurt in the attack, according to reports but as patients ran out to escape the fire, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections fled the facility and are unaccounted for, a hospital director said. Angry residents arrived at the clinic in the
Forecasters in Europe yesterday warned of exceptional heat as record temperatures driven by a “heat dome” push temperatures well above seasonal norms across the continent. The surge follows a record-breaking Monday, with France logging its hottest day in the month of May on record, its weather agency said, and the UK also posting unprecedented highs. A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer. Restrictions on outdoor work were imposed in parts of Italy, beaches in southwest France filled earlier than usual and
RSS