The United States impose sanctions on the Iranian Space Agency after the failure of the launch of a rocket

TThe Trump administration announced the first sanctions ever imposed on the Iranian Space Agency, a few days after the release of satellite images showing what appeared to be a failed rocket launch by the country.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Tuesday that the sanctions would target both the space agency and two of its research institutes. The United States asserts that Iran is simply using the tests, which they believe were designed for space research and launching its own satellites, as a secret means of advancing its ballistic missile program.

"The United States will not allow Iran to use its space launch program as a cover to advance its ballistic missile programs. The August 29th Iranian attempt to launch a space launcher underscores the urgency of the threat, "said Pompeo, 55.

"These designations should serve as a warning to the international scientific community that collaboration with the Iranian space program could contribute to Tehran's ability to develop a nuclear weapons delivery system," he added. .

In another piece of news released Tuesday by the State Department, Iran's space launcher technology is "virtually identical and interchangeable" with that of a ballistic missile capable of providing a weapon of mass destruction, such as a nuclear warhead.

The sanctions came a day after Iran recognized the explosion of the Imam Khomeini Space Center. Government spokesman Ali Rabiei, 63, said the blast was the result of a technical malfunction and not an act of sabotage.

"The explosion occurred at the dashboard and no satellite has yet been transferred to the dashboard," he said. "It happened on a test site, not on the launch site."

President Trump tweeted Friday a photo that appeared to have been filed once and showed damage to a rocket launcher and two damaged support vehicles. Trump wrote: "The United States of America has not been involved in the catastrophic accident while preparing for the final launch of the Safir SLV launch at Semnan's # 1 launch site. Iran. I wish Iran all the best and good luck in determining what happened on Site One. "

After the tweet, Iran's Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, sent a selfie with what he claimed to be the undamaged satellite that Iran had the intention to send in the space.

The United States claims that the tests conducted by the space agency violate a UN Security Council resolution that implores the country not to pursue any action related to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.