Moscow is concerned about Tehran's tests of a Kavosghar-1 (Explorer-1) rocket, launched into space on Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said on Wednesday.
"Any movements in the area of creating such potential arms of course make others concerned, and moreover make one suspect that Iran could possibly create nuclear arms," Losyukov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
"Long range rockets are a part of such systems. This of course makes us concerned," Losyukov said.
Iran on Monday launched a rocket, Explorer 1. The rocket is designed to send the Omid satellite into orbit within the next Iranian year, which ends in March 2009. The country also showed off its space drive by launching its first space research center that day.
The launch by Iran of the Explorer-1 rocket shows that Tehran is close to possessing long-range ballistic missiles, Col. Gen. Viktor Yesin, the former chief of General Staff of the Russian Strategic Missile Troops, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying earlier.
"This achievement (the launch of the Explorer-1 rocket) has shown that Iranian specialists have become familiar with the production of liquid-propelled rocket engines, which will also allow them in the long term to create ballistic missiles with a range of 3,500-4,000 kilometers or even more," Yesin said.
"I will not be surprised if Iran will have such missiles in the next few years," he said.
At the same time he said that there is no exact information on the results of the test launch of the Iranian rocket. "Apparently, Iranians have entered a stage where they conduct flight tests of this carrier rocket. How many more test launches will be required before Iran is able to take the Omid satellite into Earth orbit will depend on the results of the test launch. So far there is no certainty in this issue," Yesin said.
The experience of other space powers shows that testing the carrier rocket of this class might take one or two years after its first launch, he said.
Source: Xinhua
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