WORLD> Middle East
Iran puts dummy satellite in orbit
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-19 08:08

Iran said it had put a dummy satellite into orbit on a home-grown rocket for the first time on Sunday - a move likely to increase Western concerns about its nuclear ambitions.

The long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into space can also be used for launching weapons, although Iran says it has no plans to do so.

"The Safir (Ambassador) satellite carrier was launched today and for the first time we successfully launched a dummy satellite into orbit," Reza Taghizadeh, head of the Iranian Aerospace Organization, told state television on Sunday.

Iran, embroiled in a standoff with the West over its nuclear ambitions, caused international concern in February by testing another domestically made rocket as part of its satellite program, the Explorer 1.

Iran said at the time it needed two more similar launches before putting a domestically made satellite into orbit.

Iran already claims to have missiles with a range of 2,000 km, meaning it could hit Israel or US military bases in the Gulf.

UN inspector in Iran

A top UN nuclear inspector arrived in Iran yesterday for a second round of talks on improving cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the official IRNA news agency reported.

IAEA deputy director in charge of inspections Olli Heinonen was in Iran earlier this month asking Teheran to provide more information about its questionable missile-related activities, diplomats in Vienna said.

Iran has so far said it was not the agency's business "to delve into those allegations". However, Teheran described Heinonen's previous trip as "constructive".

"Heinonen has traveled to Teheran to continue previous talks about the trend of cooperation between Iran and the agency," IRNA said.