(Tehran) Iran plans to launch at least two satellites into space in the next three months, Telecommunications Minister Issa Zarepour announced on Sunday.
Western governments fear that satellite launch systems incorporate technologies interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, which Iran has always denied wanting to build.
“At least two satellites will be launched into space by the end of this year. [iranienne, qui s’achève le 20 mars 2023] “, declared to the agency Irna the Minister of Telecommunications.
“Two Nahid 1 and 2 satellites are being prepared,” added Issa Zarepour, without further details.
In November, Iran said it had successfully tested a rocket capable of carrying satellites into space.
Earlier, in August, the country launched the Khayyam satellite (named after Persian scholar Omar Khayyam) with a Soyuz-2.1B rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, controlled by Moscow.
The Iranian space agency had indicated that the device had been built by the Russians under the supervision of Iran.
The United States claimed at the time that Khayyam would be targeted for “spying” activities, calling Moscow’s growing cooperation with Tehran a serious “threat”.
Iran rejected these allegations, saying that the device was built “to meet the needs of the country” in particular in the “management of urban crises”.
Iran insists its space program is for civilian and defense purposes only, and does not violate the 2015 nuclear deal or any other international agreement.
On Saturday, Tehran also said it had increased its uranium enrichment capacity. In November, it announced that it had started enriching uranium up to 60% at its Fordo nuclear power plant, greatly exceeding the 3.67% threshold set by the 2015 agreement and approaching the 90% necessary for produce an atomic bomb.