TEHRAN, Jan. 14 (MNA) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Monday that an Iranian-made satellite named ‘Payam’ will be put into orbit at 600 kilometers altitude above Earth in the near future.

Rouhani made the announcement while addressing a group of people in Golestan province during his provincial visit on Monday.

He said homegrown ‘Payam’ satellite will be put into orbit at an altitude of 600 kilometers above Earth on a satellite-carrier rocket in the coming days. Rouhani added that the two are made by Iranian scientists at Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT).

The president explained that Payam is Iran’s first operational satellite with a mission to send daily information about the country's climate and agricultural lands.

He added that the satellite would pass over Iran’s airspace six times a day.

Elsewhere, the president underscored Iran’s close and amicable ties with all its neighbors and other countries in the region, from Turkmenistan to Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, and the southern Persian Gulf countries, adding “we have some disputes with one or two neighboring countries, but we are ready to resolve our issues.”

He added that the Israeli regime, meanwhile, wishes to bring Iran to its knees, but it will fail to do so.

“The US has imposed sanctions on our banking sector, oil and shipping industries, but we will stand firm against these sanctions,” Rouhani said, adding “the fact that we want to maintain banking ties with various countries is not an easy task, but God willing we will be able to do it.”

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