Russia has launched a telecommunications satellite into space on behalf of Iran.

Among them are two Russian Ionosfera-M satellites and the Iranian telecoms satellite Nahid-2.

The state news agency TASS reported on Friday that a Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur region, carrying 20 satellites.

Nahid-2, a research and communications satellite commissioned by the Iranian Space Agency and developed by the Iranian World Research Institute, weighs 110 kilogrammes, according to Iran’s IRIB news agency.

Tehran says the satellites are not pursuing any military objectives.

The U.S. and Israel fear that Iran could use space technology to build long-range military missiles.

The fact that Russia is launching a satellite into space for Iran is nothing new.

In 2022, for example, Moscow launched a surveillance satellite it had built for Iran.

The Washington Post wrote at the time that the satellite could take high-resolution images of Earth, and that Russia would initially use it for its war against Ukraine.

Russia and Iran are working closely together, primarily because of the Western sanctions that are weighing on both countries.

The Ionosfera-M satellites are part of the Ionosond project, which aims to observe the ionosphere, the uppermost layer of the atmosphere, among other things.

According to the TASS news agency, the Ionosfera-M No 3 and Ionosfera-M No 4 satellites, now sent into space, are equipped with devices for measuring the ozone content in the atmosphere. 

(dpa/NAN)