Simorgh rocket is launched and tested at the Imam Khomeini Space Centre, Iran, in this handout photo released by Tasnim News Agency on July 27, 2017.

:: The United States on Thursday hit out at Iran over its test of a satellite-launch rocket, saying it appeared to be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and an act that undermined regional stability
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“We consider that to be continued ballistic missile development,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. “We consider this to be provocative action.”

Iranian state television broadcast footage of the takeoff from the Imam Khomeini space center, named after the late founder of the Islamic republic, in Semnan province in the east of the country.

The report said the launch vehicle, named Simorgh after a bird in Iranian mythology, was capable of propelling a satellite weighing 250 kilograms to an altitude of 500 kilometers above earth.

Western states suspect Iran of developing the technology capable of launching long-range ballistic missiles with conventional or nuclear payloads, a charge denied by Tehran, which insists its space program has purely peaceful aims.

Tensions have mounted between Washington and Tehran since US President Donald Trump took office six months ago.