Russia launches Iranian satellite

The Russian government says a Russian rocket has successfully launched an Iranian satellite into orbit.

This comes just three weeks after President Vladimir Putin and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged to work together.

The Soyuz rocket lifted off as scheduled at 8:52 a.m. Moscow time (0552 GMT) from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

About nine minutes after the launch, it placed the Iranian satellite called Khayyam into orbit.

Civilian purposes
Iran has said the satellite fitted with high-resolution camera will be used for environmental monitoring, help improve productivity in the agriculture sector, survey water resources, manage natural disasters, confront deforestation and monitor border areas, and will remain entirely under its control.

While no other country will have access to the information it gathers and it would be used for civilian purposes only, but there have been allegations that Russia may use it for surveillance of Ukraine amid its military action there.

Report says, if it operates successfully, the satellite will give Iran the ability to monitor several countries in the Middle East.

Yuri Borisov, head of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos, hailed the launch as an “important landmark” in cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.

The event which was aired on state television was attended by the country’s telecommunications minister.

Iran has both a civilian and military space program, which the U.S. fears could be used to advance its ballistic missile program.

However, Iran has seen a series of mishaps and failed satellite launches over recent years.

AP/CO