Iranian space odyssey: Pride of the Islamic world.
Shiite religious authority Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah on Thursday praised Iran's space missile as a "pride for the Islamic world" and accused the United States of seeking to prevent Iran from becoming a 'scientific and industrial state."
Fadlallah made the remark after receiving Iran's ambassador to Lebanon Mohamed Reza Shibani.
The state-run National News Agency said the two discussed developments in Lebanon and the region and "scientific progress in Iran"."The negative U.S. stand on this test (Missile) exposes the real reason for the American stand on the Iranian nuclear issue," Fadlallah said.
The United States "seeks to prevent Iran from turning into a scientific and industrial state … the issue is not related to concern about Iran becoming a military nuclear power," Fadlallah added.
Are Russia and France coming around to the idea of Iranian nukes not being such a good idea after all?
France says Iranian rocket cannot work in space.
France said on Thursday an Iranian rocket Tehran says is intended to put a satellite into orbit is in fact a missile that cannot navigate in space, and added to concerns that the technology is aimed at making weapons.
On Monday, Iran launched what it said was a rocket designed to carry a locally-made research satellite. The know-how required to make rockets can also be used to produce missiles, but analysts have been divided over the launch's significance.
Washington, Iran's arch-foe, reacted by saying Tehran's missile-testing was unfortunate. Russia, which has closer ties, said the launch raised the suspicion that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons, an allegation that Tehran denies.
Meanwhile, this is what the US did in space today.
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