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Iran Denies Reports Claiming Russia Will Use its New Satellite in Ukraine War

Image released by Iranian state television in June shows Tehran's satellite-carrier rocket Zuljanah blasting off from an undisclosed location. (AP)
Image released by Iranian state television in June shows Tehran's satellite-carrier rocket Zuljanah blasting off from an undisclosed location. (AP)
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Iran Denies Reports Claiming Russia Will Use its New Satellite in Ukraine War

Image released by Iranian state television in June shows Tehran's satellite-carrier rocket Zuljanah blasting off from an undisclosed location. (AP)
Image released by Iranian state television in June shows Tehran's satellite-carrier rocket Zuljanah blasting off from an undisclosed location. (AP)

Iran announced on Sunday that its satellite, scheduled to be launched by Russia next week, will be under its control "from day one."

Tehran denied the US reports that Moscow would use the satellite as part of its war against Ukraine.

Russia will launch a satellite on behalf of Iran into space on Aug. 9. The spacecraft, a remote sensing satellite called "Khayyam," will be sent into orbit by a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan.

The Iranian Space Organization stressed that the satellite would be under its supervision from "day one" it is put into orbit.

"All orders related to the control and operation of this satellite will be carried out and issued from day one and immediately after launch by Iranian experts based in Iran's...space bases," the Agency said in a statement.

It dismissed the claims as "untrue" and said, "no third country is able to access the information" sent by satellite due to its "encrypted algorithm."

The Washington Post quoted Western intelligence officials that Russia will use this satellite for several months for military purposes related to its invasion of Ukraine before handing it over to Tehran.

A report by the newspaper on Aug 4 claimed that Russia "plans to use the satellite for several months or longer" to assist its war efforts in Ukraine before allowing Iran to take control.

It added, quoting unnamed Western intelligence officials, that Iran may not be able to supervise the satellite from the beginning but that Russia "plans to use the satellite for several months, or longer, to enhance its surveillance of military targets in that conflict."

The announcement of the satellite came after the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Iran on July 19.

In June 2021, Putin denied US press reports about Russia's intention to provide an advanced satellite system for Iran to improve its surveillance.

Iranian space activities often receive condemnation from Western countries due to fears that Tehran will resort to enhancing its expertise in the field of ballistic missiles by launching satellites into space.

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Trump Signs Raft of Executive Orders on Day 1 

US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including pardons for defendants from the January 6th riots and a delay on the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including pardons for defendants from the January 6th riots and a delay on the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. (EPA)
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Trump Signs Raft of Executive Orders on Day 1 

US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including pardons for defendants from the January 6th riots and a delay on the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including pardons for defendants from the January 6th riots and a delay on the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. (EPA)

On the first day of his new term, President Donald Trump signed orders ranging from climate to immigration, along with sweeping pardons for many of those who stormed the capital on January 6, 2021.

Some of his orders delivered on promises he made during the 2024 campaign. Others, like a withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), had not been expected.

Here is a summary of the orders Trump signed at a Washington arena packed with supporters, and later at the White House, after he was sworn in as president.

- Immigration -

Trump signed various orders aimed at reshaping how the United States manages immigration and citizenship.

One declared a national emergency at the southern border.

Trump also promised a mass deportation operation involving the military, which he says will target those he called "criminal aliens."

In the Oval Office, Trump signed an order revoking birthright citizenship.

But automatic US citizenship to people born in the country is enshrined in the Constitution, and Trump's action is certain to face a legal challenge.

- January 6 rioters -

Trump signed pardons for some of the 1,500 participants in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters trying to overturn the 2020 election.

He again referred to those who were convicted or pleaded guilty over the riots as "hostages."

- Paris Climate accord -

The president immediately withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accord, repeating an action he took during his first term.

The order extends Trump's defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.

It would take a year to leave the agreement after submitting a formal notice to the United Nations framework that underpins global climate negotiations.

- Oil drilling -

Trump signed an order declaring a "national energy emergency" aimed at significantly expanding drilling in the world's top oil and gas producer.

"We will drill, baby, drill," Trump said in his inaugural address.

- Work from home -

Another order requires federal workers to return to the office full-time, with Trump seeking to undo most of the work-from-home allowances that flourished during the Covid-19 pandemic.

- Leaving WHO -

Trump signed an order for the United States to exit the World Health Organization, insisting Washington was unfairly paying more than China into the UN body.

- TikTok -

The president ordered a 75-day pause on enforcing a law that would effectively ban TikTok.

His action delayed implementation of an act that came into effect this week, prohibiting the distribution and updating of TikTok in the United States.

Trump has said the app's Chinese parent company must agree to sell a fifty percent share to the United States.

- West Bank settlers -

Trump revoked sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank accused of abuses against Palestinians, undoing an unprecedented action taken by Joe Biden's administration.

- Cuba -

Reversing another one of Biden's more recent moves, Trump removed Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.

Biden had removed Cuba from the list only days earlier as part of a deal to free prisoners.