Says Test Of Satellite-Capable Booster Failed

With most of the world's attention this weekend focused on Russia's military action in the former Soviet state of Georgia -- and, oh yeah, the Olympics -- Iran announced Sunday it successfully tested a rocket capable of lifting a satellite into orbit. But officials in the United States say that's highly unlikely.

CNN reports Pentagon officials dispute assertions made this weekend by Iranian officials to the state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency, stating the two-stage Safire rocket fired successfully and "paved the way for placing the first Iranian satellite in orbit."

"The Iranians did not successfully launch the rocket," counters one senior defense official, adding US intelligence indicates the second stage "was erratic and out of control" and "did not perform as designed."

A second unnamed official said the USS Russell tracked the rocket from the Persian Gulf, and saw the rocket veer off course.

Iran boasted earlier this year it would launch a satellite using its own rocket by June. In February, Iran claimed it launched an orbital-capable "Explorer-I" rocket, derived from the country's Shahab-3 intercontinental ballistic missile. The international community raised its collective eyebrow to those claims, however, noting a similar rocket only achieved suborbital flight in earlier tests.

Even an unsuccessful firing concerns US officials, still on alert after the belligerent Islamic state fired at least three smaller missiles last month, in an apparent show of force.

"The Iranian development and testing of rockets is troubling and raises further questions about their intentions," said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe. "This action and dual-use possibilities for their ballistic missile program have been a subject of (International Atomic Energy Agency) discussions and are inconsistent with their UN Security Council obligations."

FMI: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html