Bond strengthens: Russia launches Iran’s spy satellite

MOSCOW: A Russian rocket on Tuesday launched into orbit an Iranian surveillance satellite that Western analysts say will improve Iran’s military intelligence gathering, in a sign of the expanding cooperation between two countries faced with Western economic sanctions.
Russia has been seeking closer alliances, including with Iran, since its invasion of Ukraine left it isolated by many Western countries. Iran said the launch is part of a four-year space cooperation deal between the two countries. “The launch of the satellite has become an important milestone in Russian-Iranian cooperation,” Yury Borisov, director-general of Roscosmos, the Russian staterun space agency, said.