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Iran on Monday said it was ready to put the satellites of Muslim nations in orbit after successfully launching a dummy satellite into orbit in a move that is likely to increase suspicions over its nuclear program.
Tehran announced it had put the dummy satellite into orbit using a domestically produced rocket, for the first time. Such long-range rocket technology can also be used to make nuclear-warhead carrying long-range missiles.
But Iranian officials said they had no intention of building such weapons. Rather, said the head of Iran's Aerospace Organization, Reza Taghipour, Iran only wants to help Muslim countries launch satellites.
"I am announcing now that Iran is ready to launch satellites of friendly Islamic countries into space," Taghipour told state television.
Iran is currently engaged in a diplomatic showdown with the West over suspicions that its atomic energy program is really a cover for building nuclear weapons.
The satellite program, say some analysts, could just be a front to build intercontinental missiles capable of delivering nuclear payloads.
(c) 2008 Newsroom.
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