Middle East

US sabotage may be behind Iran's embarrassing rocket launch failures

Iran tried twice in the past month to launch a satellite into space. Both attempts ended in failure, and it may not be an accident, a new report has suggested.

The US has been secretly sabotaging Iranian missiles and rockets for years, the New York Times reported Wednesday, citing half a dozen current and former officials. Since the program began a little over a decade ago, 67 percent of Iran's orbital launches have failed. The global failure rate for similar launches is only 5 percent.

Started during George W. Bush's presidency, the top secret program reportedly slips problematic parts and materials into essential factories and supply chains. While it is difficult to verify the effectiveness of this sabotage operation, the US has had some reported successes with these so-called "left of launch" tactics.

In one incident, a short-range Iranian-made missile landed in Baghdad's Green Zone but failed to detonate. Sabotaged components were discovered inside when experts opened the weapon up to examine it, officials told the Times' David E. Sanger and William J. Broad.