Geneva’s disarmament body should start drafting a treaty that keeps weapons out of orbit, and it should start now, Iran’s top envoy argued this week.
Bahreini, who represents Tehran at the UN’s Geneva headquarters, told delegates on Thursday that the world leans so heavily on space services that orbital security now concerns everyone. The weaponization of space, he added, would violate the equal right of every nation to use it peacefully.
The envoy’s list of concerns tracks today’s military buildup: dedicated space forces, doctrine that treats orbit as a battle domain, and missile defense initiatives such as the US Golden Dome. Dominance drives would trigger countermeasures and escalation, he warned.
Commercial constellations drew particular fire. Satellites pressed into hostile duty, he said, should not hide behind the protections that humanitarian law extends to civilian assets.
The demand reached beyond orbit itself. Ground assets that underpin peaceful space activity, including launch sites, factories, monitoring and operations centers, should be off-limits to attack, he said, alleging that US and Israeli strikes during the recent war against Iran had already hit civilian space infrastructure.
Iran proposed the Russia-China draft instrument, first tabled in 2008 and revised in 2014, as the starting point for talks and dismissed voluntary measures as inadequate.
