Iran sends telecom satellite Nahid-2 into orbit on Russian rocket
The Soyuz rocket lifted off as scheduled from Vostochny launchpad in far eastern Russia.
It carried two Russian Ionosphere-M Earth observation satellites, along with Iran's Nahid-2 satellite and 17 smaller Russian satellites, and put them into designated orbits.
"The operational life of the NAHID-2 satellite is planned for two years," said Hassan Salariyeh, head of the Iranian Space Agency.
"Typically, satellites have a lifetime of five years at low altitude (LEO) and 10 years at high altitude (GEO)."
Russia, which signed a 'strategic partnership' treaty with Iran in January, strongly condemned the Israeli and US strikes on Iran last month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that Moscow could help negotiate a settlement that could allow Tehran to pursue a peaceful atomic programme while assuaging Israeli security concerns.
At the same time, Putin has emphasised that Tehran hasn't asked Moscow for military assistance and noted that the partnership treaty doesn't envision such aid.
Russia has maintained a delicate balancing act in the Middle East for decades, trying to maintain warm relations with Israel even as it developed strong economic and military ties with Iran.
Friday's launch was announced before nuclear talks between Iran and Britain, France, and Germany began in Istanbul and comes after Tehran tested one of its satellite-carrying rockets with a suborbital flight on Monday.
Iran-Russia space cooperation
The launch of Nahid 2 was a continuation of Iran and Russia's cooperation on ventures into space.
In November, Russia launched a pair of Iranian satellites named Kowsar and Hodhod, the first launched on behalf of the country's private sector.
It followed two previous Russian launches of Iranian satellites in 2022 and 2024.
The Nahid series of satellites (1 and 2) was designed and built by the Iranian Space Agency for telecommunication missions at the Iranian Space Research Institute.
According to the Iranian space agency, the satellite provides the power it needs using solar arrays on the hull.
Development of the Nahid 2 continued, despite delays in the launch of the Nahid 1 satellite due to technical problems and international coordination. To complement the performance of the NAHID-1 satellite, four stations were built in different parts of the country.
NAHID-1 was originally supposed to be deployed with the Sefir-1 satellite in the summer of 2018 to orbit at 250 to 375 km, but a technical incident before the launch of the Ambassador caused the mission to be cancelled.
The Iranian Space Agency has announced that plans for the Nahid 3 project, which it describes as a more advanced, are under way.
Iran has been sending satellites to orbit in what Western analysts see as efforts to boost its aerospace programme.
These projects are in line with Iran's plans for self-sufficiency in space technology and the development of commercial and research applications, according to the Iranian Space Agency.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 25
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the dead included nine people killed in three separate air strikes in Gaza City. Eleven people were killed in four separate strikes near the southern city of Khan Yunis, while two were killed in a drone strike in Nuseirat refugee camp, he added. Bassal said three people were killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid in three separate incidents in northern, central and southern Gaza. One of the three was killed "after Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for humanitarian aid" northwest of Gaza City, the agency said. Witnesses told AFP that several thousand people had gathered in the area. One of them, Abu Samir Hamoudeh, 42, said the Israeli military opened fire "while the people were waiting to approach the distribution point", located near an Israeli military post in the Zikim area, northwest of Sudaniyah. The Israeli military told AFP that its troops fired "warning shots to distance the crowd" after identifying an "immediate threat". The civil defence agency said another man was killed by a drone strike near Khan Yunis, while one was killed by artillery fire in the Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza. The Israeli military said it was continuing its operations in Gaza, adding that it killed members of a "terrorist cell" which it accused of planting an explosive device. It said the air force had "struck over 100 terror targets" across Gaza over the previous 24 hours. Bassal said civil defence teams also recovered the bodies of 12 people following Israeli bombardment north of Rafah the previous night. The recovery operation was conducted in coordination with the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), he said, adding that the bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after a deadly attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The Israeli campaign has killed 59,676 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Local France
7 hours ago
- Local France
France's top court annuls arrest warrant against Syria's Assad
The Court of Cassation ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. But its presiding judge, Christophe Soulard, added that, as Assad was no longer president after an Islamist-led group toppled him in December, "new arrest warrants can have been, or can be, issued against him" and as such the investigation into the case could continue. Human rights advocates had hoped the court would rule that immunity did not apply because of the severity of the allegations, which would have set a major precedent in international law towards holding accused war criminals to account. They said that, in this regard, it was a missed opportunity. "This ruling represents a setback for the global fight against impunity for the most serious crimes under international law," said Mazen Darwish, the head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, a civil party to the case. French authorities issued the warrant against Assad in November 2023 over his alleged role in the chain of command for a sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence, on August 4 and 5, 2013 in Adra and Douma outside Damascus. Assad is accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the case. Syrian authorities at the time denied involvement and blamed rebels. Universal jurisdiction The French judiciary tackled the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction, whereby a court may prosecute individuals for serious crimes committed in other countries. An investigation -- based on testimonies of survivors and military defectors, as well as photos and video footage -- led to warrants for the arrest of Assad, his brother Maher who headed an elite army unit, and two generals. Advertisement Public prosecutors approved three of the warrants, but issued an appeal against the one targeting Assad, arguing he should have immunity as a head of state. The Paris Court of Appeal in June last year however upheld it, and prosecutors again appealed. But in December, Assad's circumstances changed. He and his family fled to Russia, according to Russian authorities, after Islamist-led fighters seized power from him. In January, French investigating magistrates issued a second arrest warrant against Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 that killed a French-Syrian civilian. 'Great victory' The Court of Cassation said Assad's so called "personal immunity", granted because of his office, meant he could not be targeted by arrest warrants until his ouster. But it ruled that "functional immunity", which is granted to people who perform certain functions of state, could be lifted in the case of accusations of severe crimes. Thus it upheld the French judiciary's indictment in another case against ex-governor of the Central Bank of Syria and former finance minister, Adib Mayaleh. Advertisement He has been accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity over alleged funding of the Assad government during Syria's civil war. Mayaleh obtained French nationality in 1993, and goes by the name Andre Mayard on his French passport. Darwish, the Syrian lawyer, said that part of the court's ruling was however a "great victory". "It establishes the principle that no agent of a foreign state, regardless of the position they hold, can invoke their immunity when international crimes are at stake," he said. Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes since its eruption in 2011 with the then-government's brutal crackdown on anti-Assad protests. Assad's fall on December 8, 2024 ended his family's five-decade rule.
LeMonde
7 hours ago
- LeMonde
The logic behind recognizing Palestine
French President Emmanuel Macron's historic commitment to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September has sparked polarizing and often irreconcilable reactions in France, as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict always does. This comes as no surprise, especially given the criticism from the right and far right. Some within those ranks have chosen to align with Israel's positions, even when the country is led by a coalition that advocates the destruction of Gaza, the annexation of the West Bank and ethnic cleansing. Since Hamas's terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, these three threats have ceased to be part of a dystopian scenario. The first threat is nearing completion before our eyes, despite the shameful media blackout imposed by Israel. The second threat is advancing inexorably, fueled by extremist settlers supported by an ultranationalist government where the right and far right are becoming indistinguishable. That same government is also actively working to normalize the third threat. Decades of Israeli fait accomplis demand that we take this seriously. This necessary reminder of the brutal reality is essential to understanding Macron's decision. France can no longer adhere to its previous position that recognition would come at the end of a territorial compromise negotiated by both sides. The door to such a prospect has long since closed, and responsibility is broadly shared. What is now at stake makes it impossible to accept inaction or further delay. The fact that some of France's allies are content with this resignation does not make it virtuous. It may already be too late to save the two-state solution. Waiting and doing nothing only ensures that, eventually, there will be nothing left to recognize – definitively. Even without the slightest guarantee of success, trying to halt this downward spiral is an argument in favor of recognizing Palestine. Staying true to the values France has proclaimed to uphold, including supporting the Palestinians' right to self-determination in land seized by Israel in 1967, also leads to this decision. The two-state solution would guarantee an irreversible defeat for Hamas by further strengthening the legitimacy of Israel following the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) recognition of Israel in 1988 and 1993. The solution also safeguards against a shift that, if unchecked, will cause Israel to abandon its democratic nature and impose an apartheid regime on Palestinians confined to enclaves. Turning away from these values because upholding them is risky is, in fact, an endorsement of resignation – a point that makes such criticism all the more peculiar when it comes from people who often invoke Gaullism (a French doctrine of national independence and moral leadership inherited from former president Charles de Gaulle). Either Palestine represents an injustice and must be opposed, or Palestine is the only solution to save the Palestinians and to protect Israelis from themselves. In that case, it must be recognized.
