Iran: Unilateral US weaponization of space accelerates arms race
Iran has condemned the United States’ deployment of weapons in Earth's orbit as a “destructive” and “unilateral” act that accelerates a high-risk arms race in outer space.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Director-General for International Peace and Security Affairs Mohammad Hassannejad Pirkouhi made the remarks on Thursday, three days after the US for the first time acknowledged that it had “on-orbit” space control weapons capable of “defending” American forces.
Expressing deep concerns over the disclosure, Pirkouhi said the US move violates the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bans weapons of mass destruction in orbit, and poses a direct threat to international peace and security.
He noted that the official acknowledgment of the deployment of weapons in orbit is the result of a policy that Washington has pursued in recent years, including the establishment of an independent Space Force, the designation of space as a “warfighting domain,” and initiatives such as the “Golden Dome.”
“Iran has consistently warned that such a unilateral approach in outer space will prompt other countries to develop corresponding capabilities and will exacerbate the dangerous cycle of an arms race in orbit. The Islamic Republic emphasizes that space is the common heritage of humanity and that its use must be exclusively peaceful,” he added.
“The United States’ destructive move to militarize space undermines the equal and non-discriminatory right of all countries to the peaceful use of orbit and puts global peace and security at risk.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian diplomat recalled the international community of its responsibility to take a decisive position on Washington’s dangerous action.
He said that the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session will provide an opportunity to explore ways to counter the United States’ increasingly aggressive unilateralism and growing violations of international law in the field of disarmament.
“It is time for the Conference on Disarmament to begin negotiations… to devise a comprehensive, legally binding, and non-discriminatory document in order to prevent the placement of weapons in outer space and avert an arms race in this domain,” Pirkouhi pointed out.
Such a document, he emphasized, should “prohibit the deployment of any weapons in outer space, as well as the threat or use of force from outer space against any government, while establishing clear and equal rights and obligations for all countries.”
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