Iran launched a rocket with a big televised showoff on Monday. Russia thinks the launch of an Iranian rocket into space raises suspicion over the true motives of its nuclear program, a foreign ministry official has said.
"Long-range missiles are one of the components of a weapons system," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told Interfax news agency,
as reported by BBC News today. Therefore, Monday's test launch of Iran's Explorer-1 space rocket was "of course, a cause for concern", he said.
Iran insists its nuclear program is intended merely for peaceful energy production. Mr. Losyukov seemed to suggest that Moscow increasingly shares Western concerns about Tehran's nuclear course.
"It increases suspicion of Iran regarding its possible desire to create a nuclear weapon," he was quoted as saying. Iran said the test-fired rocket would be used to launch research satellites.
The US State Department said the launch was "troubling", as it was an example of the same technology behind long-range ballistic missiles.
In the past, Russia was more sceptical than the Western world about Iran's missile capability, saying it would take a long time to build long-range missiles.
Digital Journal recently reported that Iran had received its final delivery of nuclear material from Russia.
