Russian Iranian satellite cooperation worries "Israel" and the US

Israeli media revealed, on Thursday, that both "Israel" and the US are faced with new intelligence concerns following the announcement that Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, will launch the Iranian satellite, Khayyam, into space on August 9.

The Jerusalem Post wrote in its columns that "for the second time in three months, Russia is making a fuss about helping Iran in the field of satellite technology," adding that “such cooperation and progress are of great concern to "Israel" and the United States because aspects of satellite technology can have a dual use for its application to the delivery of nuclear weapons, as well as the possibility of greatly enhancing the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the Islamic Republic.”

The cooperation became more concerning, according to the Israeli newspaper, given that cooperation between Russia and Iran in the field of satellite technologies could be used for intelligence and nuclear advances. The newspaper reported that Roscosmos has developed the Khayyam, equipped with remote sensing technologies, which allows the satellite to provide "accurate spatial data."

This technology, according to Iranian media, will help improve Iran's "agricultural productivity, monitoring of water resources, management of natural disasters and monitoring of mines." This will be echoed at the social, economic, political, and military levels, which will increase Iran's capabilities and influence, making it an ever-growing threat to "Israel".

The more concerning impact of the Russian-Iranian satellite field cooperation, according to the JP, pertains to the more security-related usage of the technologies. The newspaper reported that "the satellites will help monitor Iran's borders and other unspecified uses, and this is the part that will cause concern in Israel and the United States of America."

Earlier, in mid-June, The Washington Post reported that Russia was getting ready to provide Iran with a cutting-edge satellite that could track military targets throughout the Middle East. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied the report and called it "nonsense" soon after.

Thus, the current satellite cooperation between the two countries is of a different nature than that reported in The Washington Post.