SPACE JAM

Russia Launches Iranian Satellite That Will Definitely Not Be Used for Military Reasons

Tehran says it just wants the advanced hardware for “agricultural reasons.”

Just three weeks after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an unholy alliance against the West, a Russian rocket has successfully launched a satellite for Tehran into orbit. After being launched on Tuesday from southern Kazakhstan, the satellite has already begun sending telemetry data to Iran’s space agency, local media reports. Iranian officials have denied that the space tech will be used to support Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, insisting that Iran will have complete control of the satellite “from day one.” They say it will instead be used for scientific research tasks, including monitoring radiation and the environment, as well as being used for agricultural purposes. U.S. officials fear the satellite will not only be a boon to Russia’s war on Ukraine, but will also offer “unprecedented capabilities” for Iran to surveil military targets in Israel and elsewhere.