Sabah Zanganeh, in an interview with Tehran-based Nameh News website, refused claims that Iran’s Khayyam satellite launched on Tuesday in cooperation with Russia is for ‘spying’ purposes, saying the West and particularly the United States try to tarnish Tehran-Moscow cooperation as a ‘cause of concern’.
He said placing the remote sensing Khayyam satellite in orbit by the Russian Soyuz satellite carrier to fulfill many of Iran’s needs that require high-precision data was a transparent cooperation which can be monitored from all across the world.
The top analyst also played down Washington’s reaction on Russia’s purchase of Iranian drones, saying, “Drones are primarily a reconnaissance device. Secondly, they’re a means of defense against all the facilities and devices available in the world.”
Zanganeh said technological cooperation between countries is nothing new, noting the United States itself has always had close aerospace cooperation with Russia.
He stressed, “If cooperation between countries in technological fields, especially in military technology, is a cause of concern, the whole world should be constantly worried about the US and the West, as they have always shown that they have no regard for anything and act according to their own interests.”
