(CNN) -  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad joked he is so
serious about making sure Iran advances technologically that
he'd volunteer to go to space for his country if needed.  "I am
ready to be the first human to be sent to space by Iranian
scientists," he said after meeting Monday with Iranian space
scientists, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency.
The president's comments, made in jest, came a week after the
state's semi-official Fars News Agency said Iran had "sent a
monkey to the orbit, brought it back to the Earth and retrieved
the animal and the relevant data successfully."  While the
reported primate in space caused a celebration in Tehran, the
monkey business -- if it happened -- didn't play well in
Washington.  U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland
told reporters last week that while she saw pictures of "the
poor little monkey," the United States doesn't "have any way to
confirm this (happened), one way or another."   The chatter
about Ahmadinejad caused a bit of a proble