Outer space

Iran acknowledges rocket explosion, says test malfunctioned

Iran acknowledged for the first time on Monday that a rocket at its Imam Khomeini Space Center exploded after satellite photos showed the blast last week, with an official saying a technical malfunction during a test caused the explosion.

The comments by government spokesman Ali Rabiei were the first explanation offered by Iran for Thursday's explosion, which came ahead of a planned satellite launch by the Islamic Republic that the U.S. has criticized.

Rabiei also criticized President Donald Trump for tweeting what appeared to be a surveillance photo of the aftermath of the explosion shot by a U.S. spy satellite.

The explosion marked the third failure involving a rocket at the Iranian center, which has raised suspicions of sabotage in Iran’s space program.

However, Rabiei dismissed that, saying that "this has been a technical matter and a technical error. Our experts unanimously say so."

"The explosion happened at the launchpad and no satellite had yet been transferred to the launchpad," Rabiei said. "It happened at a test site, not at the launch site."