Pompeo warns of Iranian space program's nuclear capabilities, military satellite

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday warned of Iran's space program ambitions, suggesting that the country is using space exploration as a cover to develop offensive weapons such as nuclear strike systems. 

Pompeo's warning comes several days after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the enforcement wing of the country's Islamic system of government, announced it had launched a satellite into orbit for the first time. The satellite reportedly deployed from the country's Central Desert using a previously unknown type of carrier called a "Messenger."

Pompeo on Saturday argued in a tweet that the satellite, and the country's space program, were a threat to international interests.

"#Iran continues to lie that its space program is peaceful, civilian, and transparent. Deeply troubling that the [Revolutionary Guard], a Foreign Terrorist Organization, launched a military satellite," the secretary wrote. 

"Their secret space program advances technologies used in nuclear weapons delivery systems," he added. 

The warning comes after a tense week of political exchanges between the United States and Iran, both of whom issued pointed threats of military action at one another in a sign of worsening relations between the two countries. 

On Wednesday, President Trump revealed via Twitter that he had "instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." 

In response, Revolutionary Guard Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami said on Thursday that he had "ordered our naval forces to destroy any American terrorist force in the Persian Gulf that threatens security of Iran's military or non-military ships."