TEHRAN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar hailed the launch of the Safir (Messenger) satellite-carrier rocket as a triumph in scientific and technological progress, the English-language Press TV satellite channel said Monday.

    "Iranian scientists are always reaching new peaks in scientific and technological progress," Mohammad-Najjar was quoted as saying.

    "The successful launch of Safir shows that Iran has access to the ultra-modern technology required to manufacture, launch and track satellites as well as transmit and receive information from them," he said.

    An official with Iran's space agency confirmed to Xinhua on Monday that Iran successfully launched a domestic rocket carrying a test satellite late Sunday.

    Reza Taghipour, head of Iran's space agency, told Press TV that the Safir launch will pave the way for Iran to send its domestically-built telecommunications satellite, Omid (Hope), into orbit "in the near future."

    Safir is Iran's first domestically made satellite carrier, capable of putting lightweight satellites into low earth orbit.

    The launch of Safir rocket is aimed to test remote sensing, satellite telemetry, and geographic information system (GIS) technology as well as remote and ground station data processing, Press TV said.

    Iran has plans to put a "series of satellites" into space by 2010 to aid natural disaster management programs and improve telecommunications, Taghipour added.

    "Sanctions have not isolated us, Instead, we have become more independent," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was present at Iran's space center Sunday was quoted by Press TV as saying.

    Iran's satellite carrier launch has aroused the West's concerns that Iran is developing long-range ballistic missile technology which can be used to launch nuclear weapons.

    White House Spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Sunday that the Iranian development and testing of rockets "is troubling and raises further questions about their intentions."

    In February, Iran said it has prepared for the satellite launch by sending a probe into space on the back of a rocket on the mission.

    On Friday, Ahmadinejad announced in an interview in the largest Turkish city of Istanbul that Iran would in the near future launch its first domestically made satellite to the space.

    Iran, embroiled in a standoff with the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear ambitions, has pursued a space program for several years, according to local media.