Russia to launch Iranian satellite amid Ukraine war concerns
GBNEWS24DESK//
Russia is scheduled to launch an Iranian satellite into orbit on Tuesday, but Tehran brushed off fears that Moscow might use it in the war against Ukraine.
Iran’s “Khayyam” satellite is scheduled to take off from the Moscow-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0552 GMT, three weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, reports AFP.
Iran has sought to deflect suspicions that Moscow could use Khayyam to improve its surveillance of military targets in Ukraine.
Last week, US daily The Washington Post quoted anonymous Western intelligence officials as saying that Russia “plans to use the satellite for several months or longer” to assist its war efforts before allowing Iran to take control.
But the Iranian Space Agency said on Sunday that the Islamic republic would control the Khayyam satellite “from day one.”
“No third country is able to access the information” sent by the satellite due to its “encrypted algorithm,” it said.
The purpose of Khayyam is to “monitor the country’s borders”, enhance agricultural productivity and monitor water resources and natural disasters, the space agency said.
Comments are closed.