Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has launched a military satellite into orbit amid wider tensions with the US.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch of the satellite, which the Guard called "Noor," or light.

The US State Department and Israeli officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment while the Pentagon said it "will continue to closely monitor Iran's pursuit of viable space launch technology".

However, such a launch immediately raised concerns among experts on whether the technology used could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Already, Iran has abandoned all the limitation of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers that US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in 2018.

Trump's decision set off a months-long series of escalating attacks that culminated in a US drone strike in January that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, followed by Tehran launching ballistic missiles at American soldiers in Iraq.

As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and historically low oil prices, the missile launch may signal a new willingness to take risks by Iran.

"This raises a lot of red flags," said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. "Now that you have the maximum pressure campaign, Iran doesn't have that much to lose anymore."

On its official website, the Guard said the satellite successfully reached an orbit of 425km (264 miles) above the Earth's surface. The Guard called it the first military satellite ever launched by Tehran.

The three-stage satellite launch took off from Iran's Central Desert, the Guard said, without elaborating.

Mr Hinz said based on state media images, the launch appeared to have happened at a previously unnamed Guard base near Shahroud, Iran, some 330km (205 miles) north-east of Tehran.

The base is in Semnan province, which hosts the Imam Khomeini Spaceport from which Iran's civilian space programme operates.

The paramilitary force said it used a Ghased, or "Messenger," satellite carrier to put the device into space, a previously unheard-of system. It described the system as using both liquid and solid fuel.

"Today, the world's powerful armies do not have a comprehensive defence plan without being in space, and achieving this superior technology that takes us into space and expands the realm of our abilities is a strategic achievement," said Gen Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard. He described the satellite as "multifunctional".

Wednesday marks the 41st anniversary of the founding of the Guard by Iran's late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. An image of the rocket that carried the satellite showed it bore a Quranic verse typically recited when going on a journey.

The Guard, which operates its own military infrastructure in parallel to Iran's regular armed forces, is a hard-line force answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It was not immediately clear if Iran's civilian government knew the launch was coming.

President Hassan Rouhani gave nearly a 40-minute speech Wednesday before his Cabinet that included no mention of the launch.

Responding to a query from The Associated Press, Iranian Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi wrote on Twitter that the Guard's space programme was "defensive" in nature, while the overall programme was "peaceful", without elaborating.

US Army Major Rob Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, told the AP that American officials continue to monitor Iran's programme.

"While Tehran does not currently have intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), its desire to have a strategic counter to the United States could drive it to develop an ICBM," Maj Lodewick said.

Iran has suffered several failed satellite launches in recent months. The latest came in February, when Iran failed to put its Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit.

The US alleges such satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

American officials, as well as European nations, worry that these launches could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. The Guard launching its own satellite now calls that into question.

Tehran also says it has not violated a UN resolution on its ballistic missile programme as it only "called upon" Iran not to conduct such tests.

Western missile experts have also questioned the US contention that Iran's programme could have a dual use for nuclear weapons.

Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space.

Tensions have increased elsewhere as well.

A US Navy release video of an incident last week shows small Iranian fast boats coming close to American warships as they operated in the northern Persian Gulf near Kuwait, with US Army Apache helicopters.

On Sunday, the Guard acknowledged it had a tense encounter with US warships in the Persian Gulf, but alleged without offering evidence that American forces sparked the incident.

Mr Trump acknowledged the incident in a tweet on Wednesday, saying: "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea."

The US Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet referred questions on the tweet to the Pentagon, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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