Russia launched 17 satellites into space on Tuesday, the largest of which is an Iranian observation satellite, which US reports say Moscow will use to support its war in Ukraine, a charge Iran denies.
The Russian Interfax news agency reported that the Iranian satellite, called "Al-Khayyam", is used for military observation, and it was launched with other satellites aboard a Soyuz missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The French Press Agency says that the moon bears this name in relation to the Persian astronomer and poet Omar Khayyam, who lived between the 11th and 12th centuries AD. and natural risk management.
Iranian Communications Minister Issa Zaribour described the event as "historic and a turning point for the beginning of a new space cooperation between the two countries," while the head of the Russian Space Agency, Yuri Borisov, welcomed it, describing it as an "important step in Russian-Iranian bilateral cooperation that paves the way for new projects." And bigger."
American reports and Russian denial
Press reports said that Moscow intends to use the satellite initially in its war on Ukraine for several months, but the Iranian authorities responded to what was published by the American newspaper "The Washington Post", stressing that the satellite is an Iranian satellite and "all the orders associated with controlling this." The satellite and its operation will be released from the first day and immediately after launch by Iranian experts in the space bases of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
The American newspaper, The Washington Post, also indicated that the new satellite can take high-resolution images of the Earth, which greatly enhances Tehran's military capabilities.
The United States believes that the Iranian space program has more military than commercial purposes. On the other hand, Iran asserts that its space program is exclusively for civilian and defense purposes, and does not violate any international agreements, including the agreement with the six major powers regarding its nuclear program, which was concluded in 2015 and withdrew from it. United States in 2018.
It is noteworthy that Russia had launched in October 2005 the first Iranian satellite "Sina-1" from the Plesetsk base in northwestern Russia, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iran last month, where he met President Ibrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who called for strengthening "long-term cooperation" between the two countries.
About a year ago, Putin denied US press reports about Russia's intention to provide an advanced satellite system for Iran in order to improve its espionage capabilities.
Iranian space activities often receive condemnation from Western countries due to fears that Tehran will resort to enhancing its expertise in the field of ballistic missiles by launching satellites into space, knowing that Iran has previously launched satellites directly from its territory, most recently in March 2022 with the “Noor” satellite. 2 "The soldier of the Revolutionary Guards.