Iran has confirmed that a space rocket has exploded before launch at a base in Semnan, central Iran, last week after several days of silence in spite of undeniable satellite images that were published worldwide.
However, Tehran has ruled out sabotage, adding that the explosion has not left any casualty.
A spokesman for the Iranian government announced in Tehran today that "No satellite was on the launcher when the explosion took place," adding that the blast occurred in the course of "a test."
Rabiei said that the blast was the result of an error the details of which are still not known.
Without naming anyone or any country, Rabiei said that "They wanted to suggest that they were able to carry out sabotage in our institutions, but our experts have dismissed sabotage as the cause of the explosion."
During the past days, Western media had reported a blast at a rocket launch site called "Imam Khomeini Space Base" near Semnan.
Previously, Iranian officials refused to talk about the blast but kept saying that the satellite that was to be launched has not been damaged in any way.
On August 30, President Donald Trump posted a high resolution image of the launchpad after the incident, but said in a tweet that the United States was not involved.
