Iran rocket launch puts West on high alert

IRAN announced yesterday it has successfully launched a research rocket carrying a mouse, two turtles and worms into space – a feat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said showed Iran could defeat the West in the battle of technology.

Ahmadinejad also unveiled the model of a light booster rocket that is being built and three new Iranian- built satellites, touted as the latest achievements in the country’s ambitious space programme.

The Iranian space programme has worried Western powers, which fear the same technology used to launch satellites and research capsules could also be used to build long-range intercontinental missiles and deliver warheads.