Russian senior nuclear negotiator Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday launching satellites should be distinguished from ballistic missiles aimed at destroying targets, as technologies used in them are totally different.
"Iran is never doing an action contradicting international regulations when it tests its missiles", he reiterated, noting that Resolution 2231 has not considered any ban on using ballistic missiles' technologies for Iran and it has only demanded it to avoid launching missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
"All the experts know that satellite carriers and non-nuclear surface-to-surface ballistic missiles are different structurally from missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads," Ryabkov said.
"Therefore, criticizing Iran for its missile program is wrong and we know it irresponsible move, as it leads the global community to astray purposefully and knowingly," he said.
Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Jahromi-Azar in a message on Tuesday morning announced that Iran's Payam satellite has not been put into orbit successfully.