“Several Russian-language websites in Azerbaijan, citing Russian Telegram channels, have written that Iranian intelligence obtained satellite images of Azerbaijani airports. According to the published information, Iran requested satellite imagery of Azerbaijani military airfields and airports from the Chinese space company Emposat for intelligence purposes. The requested data is said to have been provided to Tehran. The airports in question are those in Ganja, Fuzuli, Lachin and Nakhchivan.”
Globalinfo.az reports that these words were spoken by political analyst Elhan Shahinoglu:
The analyst said the report also states that China’s Emposat has been cooperating with Iran since the beginning of 2026:
“Furthermore, China’s Earth Eye company is reported to be cooperating with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the field of satellite intelligence.
Neither the Iranian nor the Chinese side has denied the published information. In April 2025, Azerbaijan and China signed a joint declaration on the establishment of strategic partnership relations. One of the provisions of the joint declaration concerns strengthening ties and exchanges in the security sphere. If, despite this provision of the joint declaration, Chinese companies provided satellite images of Azerbaijani airports to the IRGC command, this does not correspond to the spirit of the partnership.
China-Iran military cooperation is no secret to anyone. China supplies Iran with the necessary military equipment, and chips for missiles and drones come from Beijing. China also helps Iran build its air defence systems. However, if military cooperation between the two countries is directed against the countries of the region, this raises serious concern.
During the war with the US, 3 drones were launched from Iran into Azerbaijani territory — around the Nakhchivan airport. The reason for this has not been explained to this day. One of the conservative MPs in the Iranian parliament said the IRGC was planning to strike Azerbaijan along with the Gulf countries. According to the MP, President Masoud Pezeshkian prevented this. It follows that if former conservative President Ebrahim Raisi had not died in the helicopter crash and the war had started during his tenure, Iran would have targeted Azerbaijan as well. If the report that Iran obtained satellite images of Azerbaijani airports through Chinese companies is true, then in the event of another US-Iranian confrontation we must again be ready for possible provocations from the southern direction. The strengthening of the Azerbaijan-Turkey strategic alliance is extremely important for this reason as well.”
Turan Rzayev
Globalinfo.az
