(Tehran) Iran launched an imaging and remote sensing satellite from Russia on Thursday, according to state media.
The takeoff of “Pars-I” with the Russian Soyuz-2.1b launcher was broadcast live on Iranian public television.
The satellite was launched “from the Russian Vostochny launch base”, located some 8,000 km east of Moscow, and put into orbit, according to the official Iranian agency Irna.
The Iranian Minister of Telecommunications, Issa Zareppur, indicated that “Pars-I” had been “fully developed” in Iran, a country which has carried out around ten satellite launches in the last two years.
In January, Iran announced that it had simultaneously launched three satellites into orbit for the first time.
Their launch came a week after that of a research satellite, Soraya, developed by the Iranian Space Organization and transported by a rocket from the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic.
Iran says its aerospace activities are peaceful and in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution.
But Western governments fear that its satellite launch systems will incorporate technologies interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
For years, Iran has refuted Western accusations and denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
Washington condemned the launch of this satellite on Thursday, “a new indication of the strengthening of the military partnership between Iran and Russia”.
“This partnership is harmful to Ukraine, Iran’s neighbors and the international community,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, threatening Tehran with further sanctions if Iran comes to sell ballistic missiles to Russia.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has been subject to American sanctions since Washington’s withdrawal in 2018 from an international agreement which was to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions.
In August 2022, Iran launched a satellite from Kazakhstan, sparking criticism from Washington which suspected espionage activities.
Moscow is seeking to strengthen ties with other countries ostracized by the West, such as Iran which has been accused of supplying weapons to Moscow in its war against Ukraine.
The White House announced last week that the United States would take “additional sanctions” against Iran because of Tehran’s support for this offensive, which Tehran denies.