TEHRAN - The Iranian Foreign Ministry Director for International Peace and Security Office Asadollah Eshraq-Jahromi said on Friday that Iran is adamantly opposed to monopolizing space.

“Iran strongly advocates against monopolizing outer space or attempting to curtail the peaceful use of space-related science, technology, and services for developing countries,” Eshraq-Jahromi said as he addressed the UN General Assembly meeting on disarmament and international security in New York.

The Foreign Minsitry official also said outer space is the common wealth of mankind.

Insisting on the need to prevent the weaponization of space, Eshraq-Jahromi also expressed great concern over the security threats that the deployment of strategic missile defense systems poses, underscoring the necessity of a non-discriminatory multilateral approach to handle these concerns within the UN, he added.

Speaking on the formation of a new panel of government specialists on preventing a space arms race, he stated that the panel’s ability to succeed depends on its members not becoming entrenched in politically biased viewpoints.

While mentioning U.S. sanctions against Iranian space agencies, Eshraq-Jahromi urged Washington to rescind its opposition to the creation of a special negotiating committee to avert an arms race in space.

Back in September, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force successfully launched the homegrown imaging satellite Nour-3 into orbit.  

It was sent into orbit 450 kilometers (280 miles) above the surface of the Earth by satellite carrier Qased (Messenger).

Iran has made a great breakthrough in its civilian space program despite Western restrictions placed on the industry recently.

Iran is among the world’s top 10 countries capable of developing and launching satellites.

The IRGC Aerospace Force sent Nour-2 into orbit using the Qased satellite carrier in March of last year, two years after it launched Nour-1.

The Tolou-3 (Sunrise-3) satellite was given to the state agency by Iran Electronics Industries, a unit of the Defense Ministry.

Back in August, the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) chief announced the launch of the production process of “Pars-3”, Iran’s “state-of-the-art and accurate” satellite.

“Previously, we had given some promises about the production of remote sensing satellites with high accuracy,” Hassan Salarieh said.