Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said that the successful mission which carried a monkey into space was the first step for Tehran for sending humans into space.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said that the successful mission which carried a monkey into space was the first step for Tehran for sending humans into space.

"This success is the first step towards man conquering the space and it paves the way for other moves," General Vahidi told state television.

"Today's successful launch follows previous successes we had in launching (space) probes with other living creatures (on board)," he said, referring to the launch in the past of a rat, turtles and worms into space.
"The monkey which was sent in this launch landed safely and alive and this is a big step for our experts and scientists," Vahidi added.

Earlier on Monday, Iran launched Pishgam (Pioneer) spacecraft, which took a primate to the altitude of 120 kilometers, and returned it safely to Earth as it carried a living monkey.

Iran sent its first bio-capsule of living creatures into space in February 2010, using the indigenous Kavoshgar 3 (Discoverer 3) carrier.

The country successfully launched its first indigenous data-processing satellite, Omid (Hope), into orbit in 2009.