Russia launched an advanced Iranian military spy satellite into space this morning (Tuesday) from the Russian space base in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Russian news agency "Tass" as well as the Iranian news agency "Tasnim" reported.
The satellite, named "Khyam", was launched alongside other satellites on a Russian Soyuz 2.1 rocket.
Iran apparently chose to give the launch mission to the Russians after a series of failures of the Iranian missile program to put satellites into Earth orbit.
Last week, the American newspaper "Washington Post" reported, from American security sources, that Russia will have access for at least a few months to the satellite and that it may use it to the benefit of the war it is waging in Ukraine.
However, Iran rejected the claims and said that only Tehran has access to the encrypted data that will be received from the advanced satellite.
A statement from the Iranian Space Agency stated: "The satellite will be under Iran's control from the first day of its operation. No third party will have access to the information that comes to us from the satellite in encrypted form."
Iran claims that the purpose of the satellite is to observe the country's borders as well as to assist long-term programs in agriculture and nature conservation in the country.
According to reports received from outside Iran, the purpose of the satellite is to enable the country to spy on neighboring countries and obtain visual intelligence of a high level that was not available to Tehran until now.
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