The Iranian flag. (Credit: AFP)
DUBAI — Iran's Revolutionary Guards tested a new satellite-carrying rocket on Saturday, state media reported, a development likely to anger the United States.
Washington fears the same long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also be used to launch nuclear warheads. Tehran has regularly denied any such intention.
"The flight test of this satellite carrier with a solid-fuelled engine ... was successfully completed," state news agency IRNA reported.
The Ghaem 100, Iran's first three-stage launch vehicle, will be able to place satellites weighing 80 kg (176 lb) in an orbit of 500 km (310 miles) from the earth's surface, IRNA said.
Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace division that developed the Ghaem 100, said the rocket would be used to launch Iran's Nahid satellite for the telecommunications ministry, state media reported.
Saturday's operation tested the first sub-orbital stage of the rocket, the reports added.
Iran, which has one of the biggest missile programs in the Middle East, has had several failed satellite launches in the past few years, which it blamed on technical issues.
A 2015 UN resolution called on Iran to refrain from working on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years, following an agreement with six world powers.
Iran said it has never pursued the development of nuclear weapons and, therefore, the resolution does not apply to its ballistic missiles, which Tehran described as an important deterrent and retaliatory force.
Reporting contributed by Dubai newsroom.
.