Iran says research satellite launched into orbit

Telecommunication minister says Iran, China and Thailand worked together to build satellite, which would help countries deal with natural disasters. Israeli expert tells Ynet cooperation 'aimed at presenting Iran as an advanced country'

Dudi Cohen and AP
Published: 09.07.08, 17:20 / Israel News

Iranian state TV says a joint research satellite has been successfully launched into orbit by a Chinese rocket.

Iranian Telecommunication Minister Mohammad Soleimani says that Iran, China and Thailand worked together to build the satellite.

In his televised remarks Sunday, Soleimani said the three countries suffer from natural disasters and the satellite would transmit photos to help deal with these crises.

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Dganit Pikovsky, a fellow at Tel Aviv University's Harold Hartog School of Government and Policy told Ynet that "the aerospace cooperation between these two countries began in 2000, together with a number of other Asian countries, and includes scientist exchanges and cooperative conferences.

"The goal is to develop the space programs of various Asian countries, the leading ones being China, Thailand, and Iran."

Regarding China's motives Pikovsky said, "In recent years China has been working to increase its influence in third world countries in Asia and Africa through space programs. It's an activity China engages in, in order to create a cluster of countries around it and thus increase its influence."

According to Pikovsky, cooperation with the Islamic Republic "is meant to present Iran as an advanced country capable of space exploration, in order to increase its international prestige."

Iran has been busy developing its space program in recent months. Last month the country conducted a rocket-launching drill which, it hopes, could allow it to send its own satellite into orbit. In 2005, it sent its first commercial satellite into space on a Russian rocket.

Western officials later declared August's drill a failure as, according to the US military, the part of the rocket intended for the satellite detached.

However Western officials are still concerned about Iran's apparent advances in the field. The country's Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO) head Reza Taghipour has declared that Iran will be able to send its first astronaut to space within the next decade. Taghipour called it "one of the country's priorities for the next 10 years."

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