A Russian rocket introduced an Iranian satellite tv for pc into orbit on Tuesday, a tangible signal of the increasing cooperation between the 2 nations within the face of stringent Western sanctions imposed on each.
A Soyuz rocket sporting the “Khayyam” satellite tv for pc into orbit lifted off from the Russian-run Baikonur release facility in Kazakhstan simply earlier than 9 a.m.
“The successful launch of the satellite in the interests and on the order of Iran has become an important milestone in Russian-Iranian bilateral cooperation, opening the way to the implementation of new and even larger projects,” Yury Borisov, the director common of Roscosmos, the Russian house company, mentioned in a observation.
Russia has been in search of nearer alliances, together with with Iran, since its invasion of Ukraine has left it remoted from many Western nations.
Iran mentioned in a observation that the satellite tv for pc would now not be used for army packages, as some information media reviews have urged.
“The rumors about using the satellite’s photos for military purposes are wrong,” the Iranian observation mentioned.
The satellite tv for pc, fitted with a high-resolution digital camera, will likely be used for agricultural systems, water sources and different environmental packages, the Iranian Space Agency mentioned within the observation. Iranian scientists took keep watch over of the satellite tv for pc right away after the release, it mentioned, and no different country would have get entry to to the guidelines it harvested.
Although negotiations in regards to the release preceded Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it comes lower than a month after President Vladimir V. Putin visited Tehran in his quest to turn that Western sanctions imposed over the battle had didn’t isolate his nation.
Iran has lengthy revel in with evading Western sanctions, and the U.S. says it has presented to promote Russia drones to be used in Ukraine and different apparatus the use of era that Western countries are now not promoting to Moscow.
“Today is a turning point for the start of a new interaction in the field of space between our two countries,” Isa Zarepour, the Iranian minister for communications and data era, mentioned in a observation.
The satellite tv for pc used to be named after Omar Khayyam, a famend Persian scientist and poet. The Baikonur facility has been used for house launches for many years, and used to be inaugurated when Kazakhstan used to be a part of the Soviet Union.
