Russia has launched a telecommunications satellite into orbit on behalf of Iran.
The Soyuz rocket, which lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur region, carried a total of 20 satellites, including Iran’s Nahid-2 and two Russian Ionosfera-M satellites, according to state media reports on Friday.
Nahid-2, weighing 110 kilograms, is a research and communications satellite commissioned by the Iranian Space Agency and developed by the Iranian World Research Institute, according to Iran’s IRIB news agency.
Tehran has maintained that the satellite has no military objectives.
However, concerns remain in the United States and Israel, where officials fear that Iran could adapt space technology to develop long-range missiles.
Russia’s collaboration with Iran on satellite launches is not new. In 2022, Moscow launched a surveillance satellite built for Iran. At the time, The Washington Post reported that the satellite was capable of capturing high-resolution images of Earth and alleged that Russia initially planned to use it for military operations in Ukraine.
Russia and Iran continue to strengthen ties, largely due to Western sanctions imposed on both nations.
The Russian Ionosfera-M satellites are part of the Ionosond project, which monitors the ionosphere – the uppermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere. The newly launched Ionosfera-M No. 3 and No. 4 are equipped with instruments to measure atmospheric ozone levels, according to Russian media reports.
(NAN)