Last week, the Iranian regime’s media reported that the mullahs had been successful in launching a new satellite named ‘Khayyam’. From the regime’s officials to those loyal to the regime, many people expressed their happiness about this ‘homegrown masterpiece’, even before it was launched.
At the same time, the regime’s president Ebrahim Raisi rushed to the stage to praise this ‘Iranian project’, while the regime’s media praised the work of the ‘Young Hezbollahi government.’
In the hope of recovering its lost prestige, dominance, and credibility among the people in society, both in the region and globally, the regime has been constantly fabricating scientific and military successes. This time, however, the tumult surrounding this domestically created satellite did not last long.
Shortly after the regime’s hubbub, the embassy of Russia in Iran announced that the satellite had been built by them, after several requests from the regime.
This announcement was such a disgrace that the regime’s media, like the Fars news agency, were forced to edit their news and publications. To clear up this mess, Issa Zarehpour, the regime’s minister of communications, ridiculously claimed that “since the first day, we had said that the Khayyam satellite was created by Russia.”
The regime’s spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi later said that the regime is planning to order three more satellites from the same model as the Khayyam. On his Twitter account, he wrote, the “construction of three more Khayyam satellites in collaboration with Iranian scientists is on the regime’s agenda.”
The strange part of the story is that some of the state-run media outlets, like the Basirat newspaper, are brazen enough to claim that the regime is capable of sending a human into space. In the past, the regime’s media has reported many times about the launch of satellites of other countries, saying that these events are not a “scientific achievement” at all, so the recent contradictions have caused the regime’s jubilations to be senseless.
On March 22, 2021, the regime’s YJC news agency announced that “Russia launched satellites of 18 countries.” They clearly have no pride in asking and taking help from a developed country to launch their missile. This latest project explains the regime’s wasting of the country’s wealth and resources on warmongering, instead of boosting scientific and industrial development.
Alireza Naimi, the general director of space exploitation and operations of the regime’s Space Organization, announced that it will not be possible to use the images of this satellite for at least 4 months.
This is not the first time that the regime claimed that it has successfully sent a homegrown satellite into orbit. One was reportedly launched two years ago, and a second one earlier this year. The second satellite, Nour-2, was launched into space without any specific usage, but the regime claimed that it had been designed to execute civilian missions.
Neither Nour-1 nor Nour-2, are likely to become operational anytime soon, instead becoming a disaster and embarrassment for the regime. At that time of the launches, the Squadron, part of the new US Space Command, reported that they did observe that any of the satellites had reached orbit.
The more concerning part is while the regime claims that its space projects are in favor of civilian space projects, due to the regime’s nature, we should consider that the regime will likely use these satellites in favor of military operations, especially by supporting its proxy forces with images of their claimed enemies.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that the satellite was designed to expand the regime’s spy and military abilities. The report stated that the Khayyam satellite is based on a Kanopus-V surveillance satellite and includes a camera with a high 1.2-meter resolution.
By Mehdi Hosseini in Iran Focus