The official media added that the Noor 3 imaging satellite reached an orbit at an altitude of 450 kilometers above the Earth's surface and was launched in 3 stages aboard the Qased satellite carrier, whose predecessor Noor 2 was launched in 2022.

The U.S. military says the same long-range ballistic missile technology used to put the satellites into orbit could allow Tehran to launch long-range weapons, including nuclear warheads.

Tehran denies U.S. claims that those activities are a smokescreen for ballistic missile development, saying it has never sought to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran has one of the largest missile programs in the Middle East.

Several attempts to launch satellites in recent years have failed due to technical problems.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration issued new Iran-related sanctions on Sept. 19, targeting individuals and entities in Iran, Russia, China and Turkey linked to Tehran's development of drones and military aircraft.

Washington previously imposed sanctions on Iran's civilian space agency and two research organizations in 2019, saying they were being used to develop Tehran's ballistic missile program.