Azerbaijan, Baku, March1 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
Iran will cooperate with Russia and China in preparing a team of astronauts sending them into space, Head of Iran's Aerospace Research, Doctor Muhammad Ibrahimi said, IRNA reported.
Ibrahimi said that Iran is open to suggestions from other countries on this issue, and added that negotiations with China and Russia have already been held. According to earlier statements, the team of astronauts will consist of fighter pilots.
Special courses have been opened in Tehran, where local group of astronauts will be trained by visiting Russian and Chinese specialists. Then the astronauts will undergo special tests in Russia and China, after which they will return to Tehran.
Earlier, Ibrahimi said that first team of astronauts from Iran will be chosen by the end of this year (changes on March 21).
Last year, Iran announced it had put a rocket carrying a mouse, turtle and some worms into space.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced plans for the monkey flight in February, with the mammal dispatched inside a capsule with life-support for a 20-minute flight about 75 miles above the earth surface. Iranian president also noted, that country plans to put a man in space by 2017.