Iranian rocket explodes during attempted launch, images suggest

New images suggest an Iranian rocket exploded on Thursday in what would be the country's third unsuccessful launch of 2019.

Images reported by NPR Thursday seem to show an explosion having taken place on an Imam Khomeini Space Center launch pad, as a researcher who examined the images identified. This, NPR notes, would come after Iran failed to launch rockets into orbit in January and February.

Following the attempt in January, western officials began demanding Iran cease its satellite launches, saying it was in violation of a U.N. resolution calling for the country not to conduct "launches using such ballistic missile technology" that's "designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons." After the January launch, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned the technology used in Iran's satellite launchers is "virtually identical and interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles," The New York Times reports. France's Foreign Ministry in January also urged Iran "not to proceed with new ballistic missile tests designed to be able to carry nuclear weapons."

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But Iran has proceeded despite these warnings, denying being in violation of the U.N. resolution and saying its launches are not for military purposes, The Associated Press reports. Iranian Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi recently told the AP three launches were planned before the end of the year.