Ahmadinejad: Iran launched living creature into space for first time

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that the Iranian experts sent a living creature to space for the first time and returned it safe and sound.

Addressing ralliers commemorating the victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution 1979, the president added that the professionals know that launching and returning a living creature indicates the scientific progress of the nation in dozens of fields.

He also underlined that all the apparatus for sending the creature into space have been designed and built by the Iranian experts.

Drawing an analogy between the achievements during the periods after and before the Islamic revolution, he added that the country’s cement production capacity stood at seven million tons, 32 million tons before the ninth government took office, and now it stands at more than 80 million tons.

Steel production capacity was less than one million tons, he said, noting that it currently stands at 20 million tons.

As to Iran’s electricity production capacity, he said that the capacity was 7,000 megawatts earlier in revolution but it will exceed 76,000 megawatts by the end of the tenth government’s tenure.

Hailing Iran’s progresses in various fields, the chief executive added that Iran’s capacity for production of agricultural crops stood at 25 million tons a year before the revolution but today it hits 110 million tons.