US President Donald Trump has sparked concerns that he disclosed classified military information when he tweeted a photo of an apparently failed Iranian rocket launch.
In a bizarre move, the President released the high-resolution image on Friday, tweeting that the US was "not involved" in the alleged failure.
He published the annotated image of the site, which points out collateral damage to vehicles and the launch gantry nearby.
Tehran has not official commented on aerial photos, which indicate that a rocket exploded on Thursday at the Semnan Space Center in northern Iran.
The incident comes after months of tensions between Iran and Washington.
In his tweet, the president appears to taunt the Iranian authorities writing: "The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran.
"I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One."
Meanwhile publicly available satellite photos also show what appears to have been the rocket’s explosion on its launch pad.
Tehran was reportedly planning a third attempt to loft a satellite into space, after two launches in January and February failed.
CNBC reported that a defence official confirmed Mr Trump's photo of the launch pad was included in Friday’s White House intelligence briefing.
“I’m not supposed to see stuff this good. He’s not supposed to share it. I’ve honestly never seen an image this sharp,” Melissa Hanham, deputy director of the Open Nuclear Network told the broadcaster.
She said she suspected the photo was taken from a high-altitude aerial vehicle using tracking technology.
A nuclear proliferation expert, Joshua Pollack also told the broadcaster the tweet will have "global repercussions."
“The utter carelessness of it all,” Mr Pollack said. “So reckless.”
