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Putin Denies Russia Preparing to Give Iran Advanced Satellite System

The report of Russia's planned delivery to Iran comes just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with US President Joe Biden - AFP
The report of Russia's planned delivery to Iran comes just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with US President Joe Biden - AFP
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Putin Denies Russia Preparing to Give Iran Advanced Satellite System

The report of Russia's planned delivery to Iran comes just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with US President Joe Biden - AFP
The report of Russia's planned delivery to Iran comes just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with US President Joe Biden - AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday denied a US media report that Russia is set to deliver an advanced satellite system to Iran that will vastly improve its spying capabilities.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Moscow is preparing to give Iran a Kanopus-V satellite with a high-resolution camera, allowing Islamic republic to monitor facilities of its adversaries across the Middle East.

Putin, who is expected to hear a range of complaints from US President Joe Biden when they meet Wednesday in Geneva, dismissed the report as "garbage", AFP reported.

"We have cooperation plans with Iran, including the military and technical cooperation," he told NBC News in an interview ahead of the summit.

"It's just fake news. At the very least, I don't know anything about this kind of thing, those who are speaking about it probably will maybe know more about it. It's just nonsense, garbage."

Biden, who is on his first foreign tour since entering the White House, is expected to raise a slew of complaints with Putin including over election interference and hacking purportedly linked to Russia.

The Washington Post, quoting current and former US and Middle Eastern officials, said the launch of the satellite could happen within months, and is the result of multiple trips to Russia by leaders of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

The satellite, while not of US capabilities, could allow the monitoring of Israeli bases and the US troop presence in Iraq, the report said.

Iran has a tense relationship with many nations in the region including Israel, raising fears by its adversaries it could share imagery with proxies in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.

The satellite could be launched in Russia, although Russian trainers have assisted ground crews who would operate the satellite near a new site near the northern Iranian city of Karaj, The Post reported.

Details of the sale also come at a delicate time when world powers are meeting to bring the United States back to the Iran nuclear deal and Tehran back into compliance with it.

The 2015 landmark accord has been hanging by a thread since the United States left it in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, leading to Tehran to step up nuclear activities long curtailed by the deal.

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Peace Inches Forward in Türkiye as Parliament Eyes Cautious PKK Integration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
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Peace Inches Forward in Türkiye as Parliament Eyes Cautious PKK Integration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday hailed a symbolic disarmament move by Kurdish militants as the beginning of a new chapter in the country’s decades-long fight against terrorism, but warned the process would not involve political bargaining.

Speaking at a ruling AK Party consultative meeting in Kızılcahamam, near Ankara, Erdogan said the gesture by a faction of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down and burn its weapons marked “the dawn of a strong and great Türkiye.”

“With the end of a 47-year-old plague of terrorism now in sight, we are opening the doors to a new era,” Erdogan said. “The process ahead will uphold Türkiye’s dignity and respect the sensitivities of its people. No one will be allowed to compromise the honor of this nation.”

The symbolic surrender ceremony took place Friday near Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, a region long known to harbor PKK fighters.

While Erdogan stopped short of detailing next steps, Turkish sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that gradual legislative moves are expected in parliament starting this week. These may include reduced sentences or pardons for PKK members as part of the wider reconciliation effort.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed tens of thousands. Previous attempts at peace talks collapsed in 2015, triggering years of renewed violence.

Erdogan, who has increasingly adopted nationalist rhetoric, stressed that any future measures would be carefully calibrated. “This is not an open-ended negotiation. It is a national process conducted with resolve and clarity,” he said.

Erdogan on Saturday ruled out any political negotiations behind a symbolic disarmament move by Kurdish militants, insisting Türkiye’s ongoing campaign to eliminate terrorism is not the result of concessions or backroom deals.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that the ‘Terror-Free Türkiye initiative we are pursuing is not born of negotiations, bartering, or give-and-take,” Erdogan said in his speech to the ruling AK Party’s consultative gathering in Kızılcahamam.

“Let everyone rest assured: we will never allow the honor of the Republic of Türkiye to be violated. Türkiye will not bow down — and we will move forward with this understanding.”

His remarks came a day after a faction of the PKK held a public ceremony near Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, where fighters laid down and burned their weapons in what supporters described as a symbolic gesture rather than full surrender.

Pro-PKK figures said the act was meant to preserve the “dignity of the armed struggle,” and called on Turkish authorities to permit Kurdish political participation and release jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999.

Erdogan on Saturday also outlined the next phase in the country’s push to end nearly five decades of Kurdish militancy, saying a parliamentary committee would be formed to examine the legal framework for disarming the PKK.

“We hope the Turkish parliament will support the process with a constructive and facilitative approach,” Erdogan said during a speech to members of his ruling AK Party in Kızılcahamam.

“With the end of terrorism, the Republic of Türkiye will emerge stronger and more self-confident than ever before,” Erdogan said. “We will redirect our energy toward development and prosperity, rather than the fight against terrorism.”

The president vowed to expedite the process while honoring national sensitivities. “We will closely monitor the disarmament step by step. As the terrorist group lays down its arms, Türkiye will grow in fraternity, deepen its democracy, and move into the future with greater stability and security,” he said.