Washington said Tuesday that Moscow's growing cooperation with Iran should be viewed as a "profound threat" after an Iranian satellite launched by Russia blasted off from Kazakhstan Tuesday and reached orbit.
"We are aware of reports that Russia launched a satellite with significant spying capabilities on Iran's behalf," a US State Department spokesperson said.
"Russia deepening an alliance with Iran is something that the whole world should look at and see as a profound threat."
Speaking at the Moscow-controlled Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh steppe, Russian space chief Yury Borisov hailed "an important milestone in Russian-Iranian bilateral cooperation, opening the way to the implementation of new and even larger projects."
Iran's Telecommunications Minister Issa Zarepour, who also attended the launch of the Khayyam satellite, called the event "historic" and "a turning point for the start of a new interaction in the field of space between our two countries."
Nasser Kanani, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, said on Twitter that "the brilliant path of scientific and technological progress of the Islamic republic of Iran continues despite sanctions and the enemies' maximum pressure."
