The Trump administration announced the first-ever sanctions against the Iranian Space Agency, days after satellite imagery emerged showing what appeared to be a failed rocket launch by the country.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Tuesday statement that the sanctions would target both the space agency and two of its research institutions. The U.S. claims that Iran is merely using the tests, which it claims are designed for space research and to launch its own satellites, as a covert means to advance its ballistic missile program.