Iran is for the first time acknowledging that a rocket explosion took place at its Imam Khomeini Space Centre, with an official saying a technical malfunction caused the blast.
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Government spokesman Ali Rabiei made the statement on Monday in comments broadcast by Iranian state television.
He said the explosion caused no fatalities and also that officials had found no sign that sabotage was involved in the explosion.
Satellite photos showed a rocket on a launch pad at the space centre had exploded on Thursday. The space centre is located about 240km southeast of the capital, Tehran.
President Donald Trump on Friday tweeted a surveillance photo likely taken of the site by an American spy satellite. He wrote that the US had nothing to do with the blast.
Australian Associated Press
