 "A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, carrying Russian the Meteor-M spacecraft and 18 Russian and foreign additional small satellites, blasts off from a launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia. Reuters")
According to official media, Iran declared on Thursday that a remote sensing and imaging satellite had been launched into orbit from Russia.
Live coverage of the launch of “Pars-I” using the Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket was provided by Iranian state television.
As per the official IRNA news agency, the satellite was launched “from Russia’s Vostochny launch base”, which is approximately 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) east of Moscow.
Issa Zareppur, Iran’s minister of telecommunications, said that “Pars-I” was “fully domestically developed” in his country, which had launched twelve satellites in the last two years.
About a week after its Revolutionary Guards launched a research satellite, Iran claimed in January to have launched three satellites into orbit simultaneously.
Western governments including the United States have repeatedly warned Iran against such launches, saying the same technology can be used for ballistic missiles, including ones designed to deliver a nuclear warhead.
Iran has countered that it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its satellite and rocket launches are for civil or defence purposes only.
In August 2022, Russia launched Iran’s remote-sensing Khayyam satellite into orbit from Kazakhstan amid controversy that Moscow might use it to boost its surveillance of military targets in its war in Ukraine.
Moscow has sought to strengthen its alliances with other countries ostracised by the West, including Iran, which has been accused of supplying Moscow with armed drones for its offensive in Ukraine.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThis month, the United States said it would soon impose new sanctions on Iran over its backing for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tehran denies the allegations.