Israel 'concerned' over Iran-Russia space cooperation

Israeli officials on Wednesday voiced concern over Russian-Iranian space cooperation, a day after the launch of an Iranian satellite by a Russian rocket.

The Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted an Israeli official as saying that the satellite would "increase Iran's capabilities to potentially launch intercontinental ballistic missiles."

He warned that such Russian-Iranian cooperation may reduce the ability of Israel's "spies" to penetrate Iran's border with operations "to hold back its nuclear progress."

On Tuesday, Russia launched Iran's Khayyam satellite by a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan, according to Russia's space agency.

Russia's Roscosmos space agency chief Yury Borisov hailed the launch as a "landmark event in the Russia-Iran bilateral cooperation that paves the way for implementing new" joint projects.

Meanwhile, Iran has obtained the first data from its Khayyam satellite, according to the state news agency IRNA. The data included telemetry measurements received by ground stations of the Iranian Space Agency.