Donald Trump denies U.S. involvement in Iranian rocket launch failure
FTA:
The US warned Iran against the space program, comparing it to the testing of ballistic missiles, in the beginning of the year shortly after the country withdrew from Syria where it had presumably helped constrain Iran’s military ambitions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo adivised Iran “to reconsider these provocative launches and cease all activities related to ballistic missiles in order to avoid deeper economic and dimplomatic isolation.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the country would do no such thing, stating: “There is no international law that prohibits us from [continuing].”
A few days after Zarif’s message, Iranian Communications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari said that Iran had tried and failed to launch a satellite into space, saying that the rocket carrying the satellite “failed to reach the required speed in the third stage, even though it succeeded in the first two stages of the launch.”
Iran said in April that it would launch three satellites into orbit this year.