An official Hebrew channel said that Israel is concerned about reports that Russia will provide Iran with a modern satellite that will be used for intelligence and information gathering purposes, at a time when Moscow denied the authenticity of these reports.
On Friday evening, Kan channel quoted (unnamed) Israeli security sources as saying that the talk is about a satellite that will give the Iranians an unprecedented ability to track and monitor Israeli military bases. Read also The most famous space junk that fell to Earth in the past 50 years عاما 6 questions to understand the nuclear negotiations in Vienna The US Navy… the empire of waves that guarantees Washington’s dominance over the world
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The channel added that the Russian satellite “Kanopus-V” is equipped with a high-resolution camera that can help Tehran in continuous monitoring of facilities such as Israeli military bases, and facilities where US forces are located in Iraq.
Tel Aviv’s main concern is that Iran might have an independent ability to obtain and share information about Israel with organizations such as the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Israel is also concerned about the possibility of monitoring the mobile infrastructure of its army, including the deployment of Iron Dome batteries, the deployment of forces in the field and naval vessels, according to the same source.
Putin: .. a lie and nonsense
On Friday evening, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied the validity of a report that his country had sold the aforementioned satellite to Tehran, describing it as false news.
“We have cooperation plans with Iran, including military and technical cooperation. But this is just fake news,” Putin said in an interview with the US network, NBC.
He added, “I don’t know anything about it, maybe those who talk about it know more… This is just nonsense.”
This information comes days before a summit scheduled for June 16 in Geneva between Putin and his American counterpart Joe Biden, who is on his first foreign trip since taking office last January.
Washington Post report
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Russia plans to provide Iran with an advanced satellite that will allow Tehran to track military targets throughout the Middle East.
The newspaper quoted American and Middle Eastern sources as saying that they are familiar with the details of the plan, and that the satellite is expected to be launched within a few months, which is the result of multiple trips by leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Russia.
The satellite will be launched from Russia, according to the newspaper’s sources, and although it does not have the capabilities of American satellites, Iran can use it to spy in specific locations.
Russian experts trained crews to use the satellite from a site near the town of Karaj in northern Iran, according to the American newspaper.
Owning this satellite will give Tehran greater ability to monitor the Gulf region, Israeli bases, and the US military presence in Iraq.