The United States imposed on Tuesday sanctions against Iranian space agencies. The Treasury Department said the sanctions target the Iran Space Agency, Iran Space Research Center and the Astronautics Research. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the agencies were "engaging in proliferation-sensitive activities". This is first time Washington sanctions Tehran’s civilian space agency for activities advancing ballistic missile program, he added. The United States has warned Iran against rocket launches, fearing the technology used to put satellites in orbit could help it develop the ballistic missile capability needed to launch nuclear warheads, though Tehran denies its activity is a cover for such development. On Friday, President Donald Trump posted on Twitter a photo of what appeared to be the site of a failed Iranian satellite launch, raising questions about whether he had disclosed US surveillance secrets. Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, saying it did not go far enough.