President Donald Trump on Friday said that the United States had nothing to do with Iran’s Safir satellite rocket failure.
"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.
He also tweeted a high-resolution picture of the location, with annotations pointing to damaged vehicles and the launch gantry.
Tehran was believed to have been planning a third attempt to loft a satellite into space.
Washington keeps a close eye on Iranian space activities as an indicator of advances in its nuclear and ballistic missiles programs. However, Iran denies seeking a nuclear bomb in contravention of UN resolutions.
Michael Elleman, Director of the Nonproliferation and Nuclear Policy Program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said he does not know "of a single satellite launcher that's been converted into a ballistic missile."
Satellite images showed Thursday the smoldering remains of a rocket at the Khomeini Space Center in Iran's Semnan province.
The satellite, which had Iran's first foldable solar panels, was supposed to be in a low orbit around the Earth for some two-and-a-half months, the Associated Press reported.
But it apparently exploded on its launch pad.
