Iran’s space launch on Thursday has failed to put its three payloads into orbit after the rocket was unable to reach the required speed, a defence ministry spokesman said in remarks carried on state television.

The attempted launch, which came as indirect United States-Iran talks take place in Austria to try to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal, drew criticism from the US, Germany and France.

“For a payload to enter orbit, it needs to reach speeds above 7,600 [metres per second]. We reached 7,350,” the spokesman, Ahmad Hosseini, said in a documentary about the launch vehicle broadcast on state TV and posted online on Friday.