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| Iran and Russia Plan To Send 3 More Khayyam Satellites Into Orbit |
Tehran - Iran plans to commission three more versions of the satellite launched this week by Russia. This was revealed by a spokesman for the Tehran government, Friday (12/8/2022). Quoted from AFP, the spokesman for the Iranian Government, Ali Bahadori-Jahromi on Twitter said "The construction of the other three Khayyam satellites with the participation of Iranian scientists is on the government's agenda.
Khayyam slid into orbit on Tuesday (9/8/2022). A Soyuz-2.1b rocket sends a satellite into orbit from the Moscow-controlled Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch of this satellite sparked accusations from the United States that the launch was intended for spying activities.
Read Also: Russia Successfully Launches Iran's 'Khayyam' Satellite into Orbit
Iran rejected Washington's claim, calling it "childish." In response to the launch, Washington said Russia's growing cooperation with Iran should be seen as a "major threat". However, the head of Iran's space agency, Hassan Salarieh, rejected the accusations. He said Khayyam was designed to meet Iran's needs for "crisis and management of cities, natural resources, mines, agriculture and so on". "Khayyam was built by Russia under Iranian supervision," Salarieh said.
Ahead of the launch, The Washington Post quoted an unnamed Western intelligence official as saying that Russia "plans to use satellites for several months or more" to aid its war effort before allowing Iran to take over.
Iran's space agency stressed on Sunday that it would control the satellite "from day one," in an apparent reaction to the Post's report. Khayyam, apparently named after the 11th-century Persian polymath Omar Khayyam, will not be the first Iranian satellite Russia has put into space.
The launch of the new satellite came a day after the European Union submitted the "final text" on talks to salvage a 2015 deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, and which Tehran says is under review.
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. Western governments worry that the satellite launch system combines technology that is interchangeable with that used in ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads, something Iran has always refused to build.