WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump on Friday posted a photo of what appeared to be the site of a failed Iranian satellite launch, raising questions about whether it reveals the secrets of US surveillance.
The uncolored picture showed the launch site at a space center in northern Iran, including a service tower and a mobile launcher, which were destroyed.
Trump said in a tweet to the exact location of the launch site, saying that the United States is not involved in the "tragic incident during the final preparations for the launch of the missile" Safir "at the launch site number one in Semnan, Iran."
He added in his tweet "best wishes to Iran and I wish it success in determining what happened in site number one."
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump defended the publication of the picture and reiterated that the United States had nothing to do with the incident.
"The Iranians would have fired a big rocket and things didn't go well. We have nothing to do with that," he said.
An Iranian official said the missile exploded on the launch pad on Thursday. A US official also said Iran had failed to launch a satellite.
But Iranian Communications and Information Minister Javad Azari-Jahromi denied on Friday that any satellite had been involved in the accident, but did not disclose any information about the missile.
The former CIA satellite imagery analyst Patrick Eddington said Trump's image appeared to be a secret photo taken by an American spy satellite.
Declassification
"If the president simply posts on Twitter a picture from a secret testimony taken through our most advanced survey capabilities, this is undoubtedly good news for our opponents."
"While he (Trump) has the power to declassify any federal document, Twitter is not a legitimate way to do that," he said.
Alison Puccioni, a satellite imagery expert, said the publication appeared "in contradiction with the US policy of publishing such data."
A US defense official told CNBC that the image, which appeared to be a snapshot of a physical version of the satellite image, was included in an intelligence report on Friday.
The official said the photo released by the president was presented at the White House meeting.
Tensions have been high between the two countries since Trump withdrew in May 2018 from the international deal on Iran's nuclear program and imposed tough sanctions on Tehran.