TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran launched a rocket with a satellite carrier bearing three devices into space, authorities said Thursday, without saying whether any of the objects had entered Earth's orbit.
It wasn't clear when the launch happened or what devices the carrier brought with it. Iran aired footage of the blastoff against the backdrop of negotiations in Vienna to restore Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers. An eighth round had been underway this week and will resume after New Year's holidays.
The United States has rebuked previous launches. The U.S. military did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday s announcement from Iran. The State Department said it remains concerned by Iran's space launches, which it asserts pose a significant proliferation concern in regards to Tehran's ballistic missile program.
Ahmad Hosseini, a Defense Ministry spokesman, identified the rocket as a Simorgh, or Phoenix, rocket that sent the three devices 470 kilometers 290 miles The performance of the space center and the performance of the satellite carrier was correct, Hosseini was quoted as saying.
Hours later, Hosseini and other officials remained silent on the status of the objects, suggesting that the rocket had fallen short of placing its payload into the correct orbit. Hosseini offered a speed for the satellite carrier that state-associated journalists reported on the event indicated wouldn't be enough to reach orbit.
In recent years, Iran's civilian space program has suffered a series of setbacks, including fatal fires and a launchpad rocket explosion that attracted the attention of former President Donald Trump.
Iranian state media recently offered a list of planned satellite launches for the Islamic Republic's civilian space program. Iran's Military Revolutionary Guard runs its own parallel program that successfully put a satellite into orbit last year. Hosseini described the launch as initial, indicating more are on the way.
Television aired footage of the white rocket emblazoned with the words Simorgh satellite carrier and the slogan We can shooting into the morning sky from Iran s Imam Khomeini Spaceport. A state TV reporter at a nearby desert site hailed the launch as another achievement by Iranian scientists. The blast-offs have raised concerns in Washington about whether the technology used to launch satellites could advance Iran's ballistic missile development. The United States says such satellite launches don't conform to a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for Iran to steer clear of any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Space launch vehicles include technologies that are virtually identical to, and interchangeable with, those used in ballistic missiles, including longer-range systems, the State Department said late Thursday. The United States continues to use all of its non-proliferation tools to prevent further advancement of Iran's missile programs and urges other countries to take steps to address Iran's missile development activity. Iran, which has said it doesn't seek nuclear weapons, maintains its satellite launches and rocket tests and doesn't have a military component, as long as it has said it does not have a military component.
Announcing a rocket launch as diplomats struggle to restore Tehran's atomic accord keeps pace with Tehran's hard-line posture under President Ebrahim Raisi, a recently elected conservative cleric.
New Iranian demands in the nuclear talks have exacerbated Western nations and heightened regional tensions as Tehran presses ahead with atomic advancements. Diplomats have raised the alarm that time is running out to restore the accord, which collapsed three years ago when Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the deal.
Iran's nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani told Iranian state TV that he hopes diplomats continue to work to lift sanctions when the talks on nuclear weapons resume next week. He described the negotiations as positive over the past week. Washington has thrown cold water on Tehran's upbeat assessments. State Department spokeswoman Ned Price told reporters earlier this week that it was too soon to tell whether Iran has returned with a more constructive approach to this round. Iran has now abandoned all limitations under the agreement and has ramped up uranium enrichment from under 4 percent purity to 60 percent, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. International inspectors face challenges in monitoring Tehran's advances.
Satellite images taken by The Associated Press suggest that a launch is imminent. The images showed preparations at the spaceport in the desert plains of Iran's rural Semnan province, some 240 kilometers 150 miles southeast of Tehran.
Iran has launched a monkey into space over the past decade, sending several short-lived satellites into space. The government seems to have sharpened its focus on space under Raisi. Iran's Supreme Council of Space has met for the first time in 11 years.