01:52Iran: 'Technical error' caused rocket explosion in rebuke to Trump
Iranian cabinet spokesperson Ali Rabiei said that "a technical issue" was the cause of a rocket explosion on the launch pad at its Semnan Space Centre in a statement from Tehran on Monday.
Rabiei said "we see many massive and frequent explosions in these regards" in developed countries as well and questioned why US President Donald Trump, who tweeted satellite images of the aftermath, responded to the event so "enthusiastically."
He added that the explosion happened at the test site, not during a "launching operation" and that "no satellite was transferred" to the launch pad.
The comments by Rabiei were the first explanation offered by Iran for Thursday's explosion. The planned satellite launch was heavily criticised by the US government.
01:52**restrictions: no access israel media/persian language tv stations outside iran/strictly no access bbc persian/voa persian/ manoto-1 tv/iran international**
Iranian cabinet spokesperson Ali Rabiei said that "a technical issue" was the cause of a rocket explosion on the launch pad at its Semnan Space Centre in a statement from Tehran on Monday.
Rabiei said "we see many massive and frequent explosions in these regards" in developed countries as well and questioned why US President Donald Trump, who tweeted satellite images of the aftermath, responded to the event so "enthusiastically."
He added that the explosion happened at the test site, not during a "launching operation" and that "no satellite was transferred" to the launch pad.
The comments by Rabiei were the first explanation offered by Iran for Thursday's explosion. The planned satellite launch was heavily criticised by the US government.