Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi took the reporters on Saturday morning to a space research center, where the domestically-made satellite was showcased undamaged.
IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK
Earlier in the day, Jahromi posted a picture of himself along with the telecommunication satellite, saying, “Me & Nahid 1 right now. Good Morning Donald Trump!”
It came one day after Trump posted on Twitter a black-and-white photo of what he claimed to be a “catastrophic accident” at the launchpad in a space center in Iran’s northern Semnan Province, saying it involved Safir (ambassador) satellite-carrier rocket.
“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,” Trump said.
Some media reports said that the picture showed a third failed attempt by Tehran to lift a satellite into space.
Azari Jahromi, however, took to Twitter to reject the reports, saying, “Frankly, Nahid 1 is doing well, is in the laboratory, and reporters can come visit.”
Iran is expected to launch three satellites into orbit by the end of the year despite U.S. warnings against the country’s aerospace program.
The satellites include Nahid 1, which has Iran’s first foldable solar panels, as well as Zafar and Pars 1 sensing satellites.
Jahromi announced that final phases of delivering Nahis satellite to Defense Ministry are underway but the satellite has not yet been launched.
Jahromi made the remarks on Saturday while accompanied local journalists at the Tehran-based space research center, showing them the satellite.
Speaking about rumors circulated regarding Nahid satellite explosion at the space center meant to launch it, he said, “I have no idea about what American officials say over the Semnan space center and the defense minister, who is in charge, should make a comment on this”.
“But what we do know is that the Nahid satellite is still being prepared at the Iranian Space Research Institute,” the minister added.
