TEHRAN -- Iran condemned the United States’ deployment of weapons in Earth’s orbit on Thursday as a “destructive” and “unilateral” act that accelerates a high-risk arms race in outer space, three days after Washington for the first time acknowledged it had “on-orbit” space control weapons capable of “defending” American forces.
Muhammad Hassannejad Pirkouhi, director-general for International Peace and Security Affairs at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said the U.S. move violates the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bans weapons of mass destruction in orbit, and poses a direct threat to international peace and security.
He said the official acknowledgment resulted from a policy Washington has pursued in recent years, including establishing an independent Space Force, designating space as a “warfighting domain,” and initiatives such as the “Golden Dome.”
“Iran has consistently warned that such a unilateral approach in outer space will prompt other countries to develop corresponding capabilities and will exacerbate the dangerous cycle of an arms race in orbit,” Pirkouhi said. 
“The Islamic Republic emphasizes that space is the common heritage of humanity and that its use must be exclusively peaceful.”
He said the U.S. move undermines the equal and non-discriminatory right of all countries to the peaceful use of orbit and puts global peace and security at risk.
Pirkouhi called on the international community to take a decisive position on Washington’s action, saying the upcoming UN General Assembly session will provide an opportunity to explore ways to counter U.S. “aggressive unilateralism” and growing violations of international law in disarmament.
“It is time for the Conference on Disarmament to begin negotiations… to devise a comprehensive, legally binding, and non-discriminatory document in order to prevent the placement of weapons in outer space and avert an arms race in this domain,” he said.
Such a document, he emphasized, should “prohibit the deployment of any weapons in outer space, as well as the threat or use of force from outer space against any government, while establishing clear and equal rights and obligations for all countries.”