Satellite imaging company Planet Labs has decided to withhold images of Iran and the conflict region surrounding it of conflict in the Middle East. The company said that the decision was taken at the behest of the the Trump administration of the US.
Planet Labs's decision was conveyed in an email to customers on Saturday, with news agencies quoting it as saying the government had asked satellite imagery providers to impose an “indefinite withhold of imagery”, Doha-based Al-Jazeera has reported.
The restriction is described as an extension of a 14-day delay on imagery of the Middle East that Planet Labs implemented last month, which extended an initial 96-hour delay, a move the firm said was meant to prevent adversaries from using the imagery to attack the US and its allies.
Planet Labs said it will withhold imagery dating back to March 9 and that it expects the policy to remain in effect until the end of the war, which began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched aerial attacks against Iran. The conflict has since spread across the region, with Iran firing missile and drone barrages at Israel and US assets, as well as civilian infrastructure across the Gulf.
Now that the decision has been taken admittedly on the request of the US administration, the Planet Labs move is presumed to prevent images being used for news reports about the US/Israel attack on targets in Iran and Iran's retaliation at a time when Iran has been claiming to have made major damage to US and Israeli equipment and facilities in the war.
On its part, Planet Labs, which was founded in 2010 by former NASA scientists with headquarters in San Francisco, California, said in its email to customers that it would switch to a “managed distribution of images” deemed not to pose a risk to safety.
Under a new system, Planet Labs will release imagery on a case-by-case basis for urgent, mission-critical requirements or in the public interest. What the 'public interest' here means is not explained by the firm. But the communication further says, "These are extraordinary circumstances, and we are doing all we can to balance the needs of all our stakeholders,” the California-based company was quoted as saying.
Military uses of satellite technology include target identification, weapons guidance, missile tracking and communications. Some space specialists say Iran could be accessing commercial imagery, including pictures obtained via US adversaries. Satellite images also help journalists and academics studying hard-to-reach places, the Al-Jazeera further said.