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 kilometers (5,000 miles) east of Moscow.
Iran’s telecommunications minister Issa Zareppur said “Pars-I” was “fully domestically developed” in Iran, which he said carried out a dozen satellite launches over the past 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.
The United States and other Western nations have cautioned Iran against these launches on multiple occasions, citing the possibility of using the same technology for ballistic missiles, which might carry a nuclear weapon.
Iran has retaliated, saying that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons and that it only launches satellites and rockets for military or commercial uses.
Amidst controversy, Russia launched Iran’s remote-sensing Khayyam satellite into orbit from Kazakhstan in August 2022, raising concerns that Moscow would use it to enhance its military target surveillance during its conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow has attempted to fortify its ties with other nations shunned by the West, like as Iran, which is charged with providing Moscow with weaponry drones for its incursion into Ukraine.
Because of Iran’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States said this month that it will shortly impose new sanctions on the country.
Tehran refutes the accusations.
