Iran has launched a rocket into space carrying a test capsule designed to house an animal,the official IRNA news agency said, amid Western concerns over Tehran’s scientific advances.

The Kavoshgar-4 rocket was launched without fanfare, the report said, citing the President’s Office.

The capsule, unveiled by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on February 7, is designed to carry a monkey but there were no living creatures on board, IRNA added.

“This important scientific experiment was carried out on Esfand 24 by the Iranian Space Agency,” IRNA said.

Iran had announced it would conduct the launch before the end of the Iranian year on March 21.

The space agency managed to “test the system performance ... the launch platform, engine, electronic and telemetry systems and the system of separation” between the rocket and its load, according to IRNA.

Iran, which has outlined an ambitious space programme in the face of Western concerns, put a satellite into orbit in 2009 and sent small animals into space in 2010.

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