Iran shows off undamaged satellite after failed launch

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DUBAI: Iran showed off an undamaged satellite on Saturday, days after a rocket exploded on its launchpad in the third failed launch of the year, which US President Donald Trump had tweeted about hours earlier.The United States has warned Iran against rocket launches, fearing the technology used to put satellites into orbit could help it develop the ballistic missile capability needed to launch nuclear warheads, though Tehran denies its activity is a cover for such development. Reporters were shown the Nahid 1 (Venus 1) satellite at a state-run lab on Saturday, Iranian news agencies said. Asked about the explosion that led to the failed launch, Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi, the communications minister, said the defense ministry should announce incident details, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency said. “But what we do know is that the Nahid satellite is still being prepared at the Iranian Space Research Institute,” he added.Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister accused the United States on Twitter on Saturday of engaging in “piracy and threats” to stop Tehran from selling oil to traditional clients, after Washington blacklisted an Iranian oil tanker that it said was headed to Syria.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday the US had reliable information the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya, which the US Treasury Department has blacklisted, was headed to Syria.“US engages in piracy & threats to prevent Iran from selling oil to traditional customers,” Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted. “Stop nagging @SecPompeo: We will sell oil to any & all buyers.” A senior Iranian official said on Saturday the United States had shown flexibility on the licensing of Iranian oil sales and this was a sign that Washington’s “maximum pressure” policy against Tehran had been defeated, state media reported. French President Emmanuel Macron paved the way at a G7 summit a week ago for a potential diplomatic solution to a confrontation between the US and Iran brewing since President Donald Trump withdrew Washington last year from world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2LlbE6f

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