TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran said on Wednesday it had launched a Kavoshgar-3 rocket capable of carrying a satellite, a move Washington described as a “provocative act.”

Western powers fear Iran is trying to build nuclear bombs and that the long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit can also be used to launch warheads. Iran says its nuclear program is solely to generate electricity.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the launch was a huge breakthrough which would help break “the global domineering system” – a reference to Iran’s Western foes.

“A launch like that is obviously a provocative act,” White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters.

“But the president believes that it is not too late for Iran to do the right thing – come to the table with the international community and live up to its international obligations.”

France, which together with the United States, Britain and Germany is discussing a fourth round of sanctions against Iran, said it would press for strong measures against Tehran at the United Nations, with time running out for a political solution.

“We are going to seek the adoption of a new resolution at the United Nations incorporating strong sanctions,” Prime Minister Francois Fillon said.

On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad had struck a more conciliatory note, saying Iran was ready to send its enriched uranium abroad in what appeared to be an easing of its position in the dispute.

Speaking at a ceremony unveiling satellite technology, Ahmadinejad said Iran hoped to send astronauts into space soon.

State Press TV showed a rocket blasting off from a desert launchpad leaving a thick vapor trail. The home-built Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carried “living organisms,” it said.

ISNA news agency said the capsule successfully returned to earth with its “passengers” – a mouse, worms and two turtles.

Mark Fitzpatrick at London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies said the launch was one of a series and not particularly more significant than others.

“They contribute to Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, but do not foretell an ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) capability or anything else capable of threatening Western Europe or the US homeland,” Fitzpatrick said.

Western counter-proliferation sources also said the Kavoshgar-3 was not a military system and was not a threat.

The rocket, propelled by liquid fuel, was a testing device for space systems that normally rises about 100 kilometers above the surface of the earth before returning on a parachute.

In May 2009, a US-Russia assessment estimated Iran was six to eight years away from producing a ballistic missile able to deliver a 1,000-kilogram nuclear warhead to a range of 2,000 km.