Ahmadinejad wants to be the first Iranian to go to space
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flashes the peace sign,
Image by: EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS
Image by: EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he was ready to become the first Iranian to go to space, official news agency IRNA reported.
"For the sake of the country's scientific progress, I am ready to even sacrifice my life and become the first Iranian astronaut to go to space," IRNA quoted the president as saying.
According to Ahmadinejad, Iran will send its first astronaut to space within four or five years.
Iran last week sent a monkey into orbit and returned it safely back to earth, and has ambitions to become the first Islamic country to send an astronaut to space.
Ahmadinejad denied Western charges that Iran's space programme had a military dimension.
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