Trump denies US involvement in Iranian satellite launch failure

US President Donald Trump has tweeted saying, “The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran. I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One.”

Earlier on Thursday, an Iranian rocket exploded on its launch pad at Imam Khomeini Space Centre in northern Iran before its scheduled launch. Which according to Iranian officials fails due to technical issues.

The launch was due to have taken place despite Washington’s warnings to avoid such activity.

The US fears, Iranian long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also be used to launch nuclear warheads.

Iran denies the accusation by the US that such activity is a cover for ballistic missile development.

Satellite imagery published by Planet Labs Inc. showed a black plume of smoke rising above a launchpad in the centre.

An Iranian attempt to launch a satellite failed in January this year, Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said that Iran would launch three satellites into orbit this year despite US’ pressure to curb Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.

In mid-August, he said Iran was preparing to launch a locally built telecommunications satellite named Nahid 1.

Earlier, Iran has launched three satellites namely, Omid (2009), Rasad (2011) and locally built Navid (2012) into orbit.