Sylvie Claire / June 12, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday brushed aside Washington Post reports that Russia is preparing to provide Iran with a sophisticated satellite to dramatically improve Tehran's spying capabilities.
The American daily had claimed on Thursday that this satellite, named Kanopus-V and equipped with a high-resolution camera, would allow the Islamic Republic to monitor the installations of its adversaries throughout the Middle East. This information was called nonsense by President Putin a few days before the much anticipated first summit with his American counterpart Joe Biden. This is just fake news. To say the least, I know nothing about this kind of thing, Vladimir Putin assured NBC News. According to the Washington Post, which cites current or former officials in the United States and the Middle East, the launch of the satellite could be carried out in the coming months and is the result of multiple trips to Russia by leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The satellite would be launched from Russia and would contain equipment manufactured in Russia, according to the newspaper's sources. Although it does not have the capabilities of U.S. satellites, Iran could use it for spying on specific locations. This raises concerns about sharing information with Yemen, Iraq or Lebanon, in addition to those about Iran's development of drones and ballistic missiles, according to one of the officials interviewed by the newspaper. The acquisition of this satellite would also give Tehran a greater surveillance capacity over the Gulf, Israeli bases and the American military presence in Iraq.