TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's telecommunications minister says his country's three new satellites have successfully passed pre-launch tests.
In a Saturday tweet, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said: "Last night, Iranian satellites passed tests successfully." He did not mention a launch schedule.
On Tuesday, Iran said it plans to send Payam, a 200-pound (90-kilogram) non-military satellite into a 310-mile (500-kilometer) orbit using an Iranian Simorgh satellite-carrier rocket.
Iran usually displays space achievements in February during the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran's plans for sending three satellites into orbit demonstrate the country's defiance of a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Iran says the launch does not violate the resolution.
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