Nothing to do with us: Trump wishes Iran ‘good luck’ after rocket launch failure
US president tweets out satellite photo seeming to show damaged rocket on launch pad, denies American involvement
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said Friday that the US had nothing to do with the apparent failure of an Iranian space rocket launch.
“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,” Trump said in a tweet.
“I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One,” he added.
Publicly available satellite photos show what appears to have been the rocket’s explosion on its launch pad. Analysts said the photo shared by Trump appeared to be classified intelligence, noting it contained detail not seen in the commercial images.
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. pic.twitter.com/z0iDj2L0Y3
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2019
Iran claims its rocket program is for civilian use in space. However, because the rockets use similar technology to long-range ballistic missiles, Washington eyes the country’s activities suspiciously.
Washington and Tehran have been locked in a bitter standoff since last year when Trump unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 deal that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
Among other reasons, Trump faulted the international agreement for not limiting Iran’s missile development.
Iran argues its atomic program is to develop nuclear power capabilities, but the United States, its ally Israel and Iran’s other rivals in the region say that this is a cover for a weapons push.
Tensions have risen dramatically in the Gulf, where Iran has seized tankers and the United States is expanding its military presence.
The head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards boasted last week that it successfully test-fired a new missile and earlier this month Tehran unveiled three new precision-guided missiles, with its defense minister saying they show that the country is ready to defend itself in the face of US “viciousness and conspiracies.”
In addition to criticizing Iran’s own missile program, Israel has also accused it of working to help the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah develop precision-guided missiles and on Thursday revealed the identities of four senior Iranian and Hezbollah officials involved in the joint project.
