video transcript

Iran has successfully launched a live monkey into space, state news agency IRNA said on Monday. There's been no independent confirmation of the report, which quoted a defense ministry statement. In a move that has alarmed Israel and some Western leaders, IRNA said the launch coincided "with the days of" the Prophet Mohammad's birthday last week but gave no specific date. The monkey was reportedly sent into space on a rocket, which reached a height of more than 120 kilometres before returning to earth, its "shipment intact". Iran's state-run English language Press TV said the monkey was retrieved alive.