Top diplomat says Iran's satellite program civilian

TABNAK, Dec. 27 - Iranian foreign minister says that the country's satellite program is strictly civilian and scientific.

News ID: 7068

Date: 27 December 2025 - 18:13

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran’s satellite program is strictly civilian and scientific, as the country prepares to launch three domestically built satellites into orbit this weekend.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Abbas Araghchi said Iran has made notable progress across several scientific fields.

“Iran's activities in the areas of nuclear science, defense industries, nanotechnology, and satellites are entirely peaceful and intended for peaceful purposes,” he said.

Araghchi added that Iran is steadily advancing its satellite capabilities, saying the country is taking “successful” steps to develop space technology.

He stressed that Iran, like other countries, has a legitimate right to pursue satellite programs for non-military purposes, noting that the satellites are “solely for scientific objectives.”

His remarks come ahead of a planned launch of three Iranian satellites—Tolou-3 (also known as Paya), Zafar-2, and Kowsar-1.5—scheduled for Sunday, according to Press TV.

The satellites are to be launched at 1318 GMT aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.

Tolou-3 is Iran’s heaviest Earth-observation satellite to date, weighing about 150 kilograms. It provides imagery with a resolution of roughly five meters in black and white and about 10 meters in color. Its data can be used for agriculture monitoring, water resource management, environmental mapping, and tracking natural hazards such as floods and droughts.

Zafar-2, developed by the Iran University of Science and Technology, is also an Earth-observation satellite. It is designed to monitor natural resources, assess environmental conditions, observe disasters, and support mapping efforts.

Kowsar-1.5 is an upgraded, integrated version of the Kowsar-1 and Hodhod-1 second-generation satellites. It features Internet of Things (IoT) capability, enabling data transmission for smart monitoring applications.

Iran first entered space in 2009 with the launch of the Omid satellite. Despite Western sanctions, it has continued to expand its civilian space program, which is focused on scientific research and satellite-based services.