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Russia to Supply Iran with Advanced Satellite System that Will Boost Tehran's Ability to Surveil Military Targets
(Washington Post) Joby Warrick - Russia is preparing to supply Iran with an advanced satellite system that will give Tehran an unprecedented ability to track potential military targets across the Middle East and beyond, according to current and former U.S. and Middle Eastern officials. The Iranians will receive a Russian-made Kanopus-V satellite equipped with a high-resolution camera that would greatly enhance Iran's spying capabilities, allowing continuous monitoring of Persian Gulf oil refineries, Israeli military bases, and Iraqi barracks that house U.S. troops. Iran would be able to task the new satellite to spy on locations of its choosing, as often as it wishes. Leaders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have made multiple trips to Russia since 2018 to negotiate the agreement. This spring, Russian experts traveled to Iran to train ground crews to operate the satellite from a new facility near the northern city of Karaj. "This capability will allow Iran to maintain an accurate target bank, and to update that target bank within a few hours" every day, said a Middle Eastern official. Equally concerning is the possibility that Iran could share the imagery with pro-Iranian militia groups across the region, including Hizbullah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Iraq. Pro-Iranian militias have been linked to repeated rocket attacks on Iraqi military bases that are home to U.S. troops. (Washington Post)