• The move comes seven months after Iran claimed it launched a monkey out of earth’s atmosphere
• It is part of the country’s goals to send human into space by 2018 and become leading tech center for the Islamic world
• Earlier this year, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wanted to be Iran’s first astronaut

As Iran  steps up its space programme with plans to send a human into space by 2018, the  country has been using animals as test astronauts and may now turn to the  distinctive, and locally named, Persian cat.

The move  comes seven months after Iran claimed it launched a monkey out of earth’s  atmosphere and successfully returned it home, although the claims were  questioned after photos appeared to show different monkeys before the launch and  after it allegedly returned.

The plan  is seen by Western countries as another possible step by Iran’s ambitious  aerospace programme, which has also raised concerns about spillover military  applications.

But a  senior space program official, Mohammad Ebrahimi, tried to quash doubts over its  success in sending a money into space by saying state media had mistakenly sent  out a photo of an alternate monkey that was not used in the February launch.

He  insisted just one monkey, Pishgam or Pioneer, was sent on the 20-minute flight  to a height of 72 miles and returned safely.

In 2010,  Iranian officials said it sent a mouse, a turtle and some worms on a space  flight – also part of the country’s goals of sending a human into space by 2018  and becoming a leading tech center for the Islamic world.

Ebrahimi  said Iran’s next space capsule could carry the Persian cat, a long-haired,  flat-faced breed named after Iran’s former name of Persia.

He said  the launch will happen by the end of Iran’s current year, which ends March 21. A  mouse and rabbit are also under consideration.

Ebrahimi  said the next launch would be with a larger, liquid-fueled rocket and and  launched 72 miles up. Past launches were done with solid-fueled boosters, whose  technology can be used in long-range missiles.

He did  not explain the reason for the rocket change, but may be an attempt to ease  international concerns at a time when Iran’s new moderate-leaning president,  Hasan Rouhani, is seeking to revive nuclear talks with world powers.

Iranian officials insist a monkey,  called Pishgam (or Pioneer) pictured, was sent on a 20-minute flight to a height  of 72 miles and returned safely

Iran says  it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in  the earthquake-prone nation, improve telecommunications and expand military  surveillance in the region.

Earlier  this year, the then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wanted to be Iran’s  first astronaut.
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