Iran Dismisses Western Concerns, Says "Reconnaissance Satellite for Peaceful Purposes"

Russian President Vladimir Putin (from the left), Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Iran has drawn a line regarding Western concerns, stating that the reconnaissance satellite it recently launched will be used for peaceful purposes.

According to the Iranian government on the 10th (local time), President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi said at a cabinet meeting that day, "The Hayyam satellite will achieve new results in mineral exploration, natural disaster management, and border surveillance."

The West is concerned that Iran's satellite launch is aimed at developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.

President Raisi emphasized, "It is an honorable achievement that the satellite successfully reached orbit and established data communication, and the government plans to devote all efforts to advancing space technology in the future."

Iran launched the reconnaissance satellite Hayyam the day before in collaboration with Russia. The Iranian Aerospace Agency reported that the satellite settled into an orbit at an altitude of 500 km.

According to the Aerospace Agency, the Hayyam satellite is said to have imaging capabilities precise enough to identify objects as small as 1 meter on the ground.

Foreign media predicted that if the satellite operates successfully, Iran will gain the ability to monitor not only its hostile country Israel but also other countries in the Middle East region.

The West expressed concern that Russia might use the satellite first for military operations against Ukraine.

Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explained on Twitter that "the Hayyam satellite will be used for peaceful purposes in agriculture, environment, and natural resources," adding, "This is a valuable achievement Iran has made amid the US's 'maximum pressure' policy."

Iran also announced that it will soon launch a domestically developed satellite launch vehicle.

Isa Zarepour, Minister of Information and Communications Technology, explained, "Within the next 2 to 3 weeks, we will conduct a test of a launch vehicle capable of placing a 100 kg satellite into orbit, and within 3 years, we plan to improve the payload capacity to 500 kg."