Washington Post: Russia to Provide Iran with Advanced Satellite System
The Kanopus-V satellite, equipped with high-resolution cameras, is set to be delivered to Iran by Russia. Three sources told the Washington Post that this satellite will give Iran the ability to spy from the Persian Gulf to Israel.
The Washington Post reported that Russia is preparing to deliver an advanced satellite system to Iran. Citing current and former U.S. and Middle Eastern government officials, the newspaper stated that this satellite system will give Iran the capability to monitor military targets in the Middle East and surrounding regions.
The Kanopus-V satellite system, a Russian-made system with high-resolution cameras, can enhance Iran’s espionage capabilities. According to intelligence sources cited by the Washington Post, this satellite will give Iran the ability to continuously monitor targets ranging from refineries and oil facilities in the Persian Gulf to Israeli military bases and Iraqi military barracks where U.S. forces are stationed. The system is expected to be delivered to Iran within the coming months.
Although the Kanopus-V was designed for civilian purposes, Iranian military officials have been involved in all negotiations regarding the purchase of this system, and senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have traveled to Russia multiple times for this purpose since 2018.
This spring, Russian experts traveled to Iran to train ground forces who will operate the satellite from a newly established center near Karaj.
Three current and former American and Middle Eastern officials provided this information to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity. Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to the Washington Post’s email inquiry on this matter.
This matter may also be discussed during a meeting scheduled between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin this month.
A Leap in Iran’s Military Capability
If Iran acquires this satellite, it would represent a major advancement in its military capabilities. Iran has attempted multiple times to launch military reconnaissance satellites into space. These efforts finally succeeded last year with the launch of the Noor-1 satellite, though a senior Pentagon official dismissed it as “a crude webcam.”
According to an agreement between Iran and Russia, Iran’s new satellite system will be launched in Russia and equipped with Russian hardware, including a camera with 0.5-meter resolution. This represents a significant advancement in Iran’s current capabilities, though it still falls short of American spy satellites.
One of the Washington Post’s sources stated that the importance lies in the fact that Iran will be able to tasking the satellite for espionage missions in locations of its choice at times of its choosing.
A Middle Eastern official who is an expert on satellite hardware packages told the Washington Post: “This system is not the best in the world, but its high resolution is very suitable for military purposes.” According to him, “this capability gives Iran the ability to maintain a repository of targets and update its data within hours.”
Officials who spoke with the Washington Post said another concern is that Iran could provide these satellite images to its supported proxies in the region; from Houthi fighters in Yemen engaged in conflict with the Saudi-backed government to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria.
Hidden Objectives of Iran and Russia
Meanwhile, the true purpose of this satellite capability has been kept hidden, and that is that Iran and Russia intend to jointly invest in their space activities. In 2015, Press TV, the English-language channel of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, reported that Iranian and Russian companies had reached an agreement that would allow Iran to acquire a sensitive controllable system capable of collecting information from the Earth’s surface, atmosphere, and oceans.
The companies mentioned in the Press TV report were two Russian companies, NPK BARL and VNIIEM, and the Iranian company Bonyad Danesh Shargh.
According to independent experts, Iran’s new espionage capability could particularly fuel concerns about Iran’s missile program, which has recently been equipped with advanced systems. Iran currently produces ballistic missiles and drones capable of striking targets at long range. The new satellite capability could enhance the effectiveness of these missiles and drones.
Jeffrey Lewis, an independent expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute at the Monterey Center for International Studies, told the Washington Post: “In-house capability to capture such images is something military forces want because it is very valuable to them.”
He added that purchasing this Russian technology allows Iran to access this capability by the fastest route; a capability that Iranians could have developed themselves if they had sufficient time.
Source: DW
