A Russian rocket has successfully put an Iranian communications satellite into orbit, highlighting strong ties between the two countries. The Soyuz rocket lifted off as scheduled from Vostochny launchpad in far eastern Russia. It carried two Russian Ionosphere-M Earth observation satellites along with Iran’s Nahid-2 satellite and 17 smaller Russian satellites into designated orbits. In November, Russian launched a pair of Iranian satellites named Kowsar and Hodhod, the first launched on behalf of the country’s private sector. It followed the launches of another Iranian satellite in February 2024 and in 2022. Russia, which signed a “strategic partnership” treaty with Iran in January, strongly condemned the Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran last month.
