BIG BAD IRAN...

isn't much better than N. Korea when it comes to missiles:

Sources: Iran tried but failed to launch satellite
Tehran insists it was merely a test; blow-up may have political effects

By James Oberg
NBC News space analyst
Special to MSNBC
updated 1:54 p.m. MT, Tues., Aug. 19, 2008

U.S. military intelligence officials now see it as a failed attempt to put a satellite in orbit.

A defense official confirmed to NBC News on Tuesday that the Iranian attempt was being viewed as a failure, and that Iran's claims about the missile test were seen as a cover story to conceal this.

According to the Pentagon source, the Safir ("Messenger") rocket was launched just before 3 p.m. ET on Saturday from a base near Semnan in northern Iran, carrying what he called a "crude communications satellite" with only "limited capability."

Soon after reaching an altitude above 500,000 feet, the missile failed and broke apart, the source said. The missile broke up when the second stage was firing, and the resulting debris was scattered across Iran and the Gulf of Oman, he said. The rocket was apparently aiming for an orbit about 400 miles (650 kilometers) high, inclined to the equator about 62 degrees.