UANI Research Reveals French Businesses Supporting Iranian Satellite Production

(New York, N.Y.) – Research from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has identified three French businesses that appear to be providing material support to the Iranian satellite company Omid-e-Faza, otherwise known as SpaceOmid, which supports the regime’s sanctioned satellites program. The United States sanctioned Iran’s key satellite agencies in 2019 for helping to advance Iran’s ballistic missiles program, promising at the time that “the United States will not allow Iran to use its space launch program as cover to advance its ballistic missile programs…”   

The companies that are implicated – ArianeGroup, Comat.Space, and ThrustMe – were all featured in a SpaceOmid video presentation which suggests they are providing components to the Iranian company. UANI sought clarification from each company on September 20. None has responded. 

SpaceOmid was established in 2018 as a “private” company. In practice, however, no entity operating in any of Iran’s sensitive sectors is  “private” in any meaningful sense of the word. All are run in the service of the Iranian regime, which has the final say over all key strategic decisions. For example, on February 4, 2022, SpaceOmid confirmed that it had reached the “testing and assembly stage” for a new satellite, “Kowsar,” due for launch into space by 2025. The testing was overseen by Hassan Salariyeh, head of the sanction-designated Iran Space Agency (ISA).

Screenshot from SpaceOmid video presentation featuring French satellite companies ArianeGroup, Comat.Space, and ThrustMe

Enlarged detail from SpaceOmid video presentation

Iran’s satellites industry is spearheaded by the Iran Space Research Center (ISRC), which was individually sanctioned alongside the ISA and the Astronautics Research Institute by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on September 9, 2019, for their roles in the advancement of Iran’s ballistic missiles programs. SpaceOmid has a record of supporting these state agencies.

Furthermore, Iran’s satellites program is also associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization whose Basij paramilitary force is presently engaged in the targeting of civilian protesters in Iran. The IRGC has a self-evident interest in deploying satellites for its malign objectives, including its own terrorist operations and regional sponsorship thereof. 

“It is critical that Comat.Space, ThrustMe, and ArianeGroup clarify their apparent relationships with Iran and its sanctioned satellite program. Certainly, they should show greater appreciation for the ethical and reputational consequences of such ties than the French government has shown its own dealings with Tehran,” said UANI Research Director Daniel Roth. “Four days into the current round of regime change protests, French President Emmanuel Macron felt it appropriate to be the only Western leader to meet with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the UN General Assembly in New York despite Raisi leading a government that sponsors terror organizations, holds French citizens hostage, and has been brutally suppressing its own people. It would be a mistake for French companies to take their cues from such missteps.”  

###