Iran 'sends monkey to space for second time'
Iran says it is the second time it has safely returned a monkey from space, following on from this January 2013 mission
Iran
says it has successfully sent a monkey into space for the second time
this year as part of a programme aimed at manned space flight.
President Hassan Rouhani said the monkey - named Fargam, or Auspicious - returned from space in perfect health.
However, the success of the first monkey flight was disputed
when a different animal was shown in images released after the landing.
Iran's space programme has raised concern among Western countries.
Some fear the technology could be used in ballistic missiles.
Iran is already under international scrutiny over the scope
of its nuclear programme, which opponents say aims to develop nuclear
weaponry.
Wrong monkey
President Rouhani congratulated the scientists involved in the space mission, according to said a message posted on the English-language version of his website.
On the Persian-language version, he said it was carried by a liquid fuel rocket - Iran's first use of the technology.
There were few other details, including when the flight took place.
In January, Iran said it had sent a monkey to an altitude of
about 120km (75 miles) in a Pishgam rocket for a sub-orbital flight
before returning intact to Earth.
But the release of images showing two clearly different
monkeys prompted international observers to wonder whether the animal
had died in space.
Iran insisted that was not the case, saying archive images of
another monkey tested for its suitability for the mission had been
wrongly released.
In 2010, Iran successfully sent a rat, turtle and worms into
space. But an attempt to send a monkey up in a rocket failed in 2011.