Almaty, Kazakhstan: Russia An Iranian satellite is due to be launched into orbit on Tuesday, but Tehran brushed off fears that Moscow could use it in a war against Ukraine.
of Iran”khayyamThe satellite is scheduled to take off from the Moscow-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0552. GMTThree weeks after Russian President Vladimir putin Met with Iranian counterpart Ibrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.
Iran Has tried to allay suspicions that Moscow may use Khayyam to improve surveillance of military bases in Ukraine.
Last week, US daily The Washington Post Unknown Western intelligence officials are quoted as saying that Russia plans to use the satellite “for several months or more” to aid its war effort before allowing Iran to take control.
But the Iranian space agency said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic of Khayyam would control the satellite “from day one”.
“No third country” is able to access the information sent by the satellite due to its “encrypted algorithms,” it said.
Khayyam aims to “monitor the country’s borders”, increase agricultural productivity and monitor water resources and natural disasters, the space agency said.
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said last week that Khayyam was being carried into orbit by a Soyuz-2.1B rocket.
As Moscow’s international isolation grows under the weight of Western sanctions on Ukraine, Putin seeks to steer Russia to the Middle East, Asia and Africa and find new clients for the country’s entrenched space program.
Khayyam, apparently named after 11th-century Persian polymath Omar Khayyam, will not be the first Iranian satellite Russia has put into space – in 2005, Iran’s Sina-1 satellite was deployed from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
Iran is currently in talks with world powers, including Moscow, to salvage a 2015 deal aimed at reining in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
United States – which abandoned the historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, under the then President Donald Trump In 2018 – Iran has been accused of effectively supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine by adopting a “veil of neutrality”.
During his meeting with Putin last month, Iran’s Khamenei called for “long-term cooperation” with Russia, and Tehran refused to join the international condemnation of Moscow’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
Iran insists that its space program is for civilian and defense purposes only, and does not violate the 2015 nuclear deal, or any other international agreement.
Western governments are concerned that satellite launch systems could incorporate technologies that could be used in ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, something Iran has always denied making.
Iran successfully put its first military satellite into orbit in April 2020, receiving a sharp rebuke from the United States.
of Iran”khayyamThe satellite is scheduled to take off from the Moscow-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0552. GMTThree weeks after Russian President Vladimir putin Met with Iranian counterpart Ibrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.
Iran Has tried to allay suspicions that Moscow may use Khayyam to improve surveillance of military bases in Ukraine.
Last week, US daily The Washington Post Unknown Western intelligence officials are quoted as saying that Russia plans to use the satellite “for several months or more” to aid its war effort before allowing Iran to take control.
But the Iranian space agency said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic of Khayyam would control the satellite “from day one”.
“No third country” is able to access the information sent by the satellite due to its “encrypted algorithms,” it said.
Khayyam aims to “monitor the country’s borders”, increase agricultural productivity and monitor water resources and natural disasters, the space agency said.
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said last week that Khayyam was being carried into orbit by a Soyuz-2.1B rocket.
As Moscow’s international isolation grows under the weight of Western sanctions on Ukraine, Putin seeks to steer Russia to the Middle East, Asia and Africa and find new clients for the country’s entrenched space program.
Khayyam, apparently named after 11th-century Persian polymath Omar Khayyam, will not be the first Iranian satellite Russia has put into space – in 2005, Iran’s Sina-1 satellite was deployed from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
Iran is currently in talks with world powers, including Moscow, to salvage a 2015 deal aimed at reining in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
United States – which abandoned the historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, under the then President Donald Trump In 2018 – Iran has been accused of effectively supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine by adopting a “veil of neutrality”.
During his meeting with Putin last month, Iran’s Khamenei called for “long-term cooperation” with Russia, and Tehran refused to join the international condemnation of Moscow’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
Iran insists that its space program is for civilian and defense purposes only, and does not violate the 2015 nuclear deal, or any other international agreement.
Western governments are concerned that satellite launch systems could incorporate technologies that could be used in ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, something Iran has always denied making.
Iran successfully put its first military satellite into orbit in April 2020, receiving a sharp rebuke from the United States.