DUBAI: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he was ready to be the first human sent into orbit by Iran’s space programme, Iranian media reported. “I am ready to be the first human to be sent to space by Iranian scientists,” Mr Ahmadinejad said on Monday, on the sidelines of an exhibition of space achievements in Tehran, according to the Mehr news agency.

“Sending living things into space is the result of Iranian efforts and the dedication of thousands of Iranian scientists,” he said.Space tourist Anousheh Ansari was the first Iranian to make a journey into space aboard a Soyuz TMA-9 capsule from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in September 2006. The 40-year-old telecommunications entrepreneur paid a reported $20 million for a space station visit. Her journey became an inspiration to women in Iran.

Iran sent a monkey into space last Monday, describing the launch a successful step towards Tehran’s plan to send an astronaut into space within the next five to six years. The monkey named “Pishgam,” which means pioneer in Farsi, reportedly travelled 120km and safely returned to Earth.

In 2010, Iran said it launched an Explorer rocket into space carrying a mouse, a turtle and worms.

Iran’s space officials say Iran will launch a bigger rocket carrying a larger animal to obtain greater safety assurances before sending a man into space.

Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Iran would soon send a satellite into space from its Imam Khomeini space centre, which is still under construction.

Irna didn’t elaborate and did not disclose the location of the space centre, but Iran already has a major satellite launch complex near Semnan, about 200km east of Tehran. A satellite monitoring facility is located outside Mahdasht, about 70km west of the Iranian capital.

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. —Agencies