THE FIRST HIGH-QUALITY IMAGES FROM AN ISRAELI SPY SATELLITE DESIGNED TO TRACK IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM ARRIVED AT A GROUND STATION OVER THE WEEKEND, AN ISRAELI OFFICIAL SAID SUNDAY. THE EROS-B, LAUNCHED LAST WEEK FROM RUSSIA, IS CAPABLE OF CAPTURING IMAGES ON THE GROUND AS SMALL AS 70 CENTIMETERS (27.6 INCHES). THE SATELLITE, WHICH CAN REMAIN IN ORBIT FOR SIX YEARS, CAN PHOTOGRAPH THE SAME SPOT ON THE EARTH ONCE EVERY FOUR DAYS, SATELLITE PICTURES PUBLISHED IN ISRAELI NEWSPAPERS SUNDAY SHOWED VIVID IMAGES OF A SYRIAN DAM, HELICOPTERS IN SUDAN AND A MILITARY PORT IN AN UNIDENTIFIED COUNTRY, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTED. DORON SUSLIK, AN OFFICIAL AT STATE-RUN ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES, A PARTNER IN THE SATELLITE PROJECT, DECLINED TO SAY WHETHER IMAGES FROM IRAN HAD ALSO ARRIVED. "ALL THE SATELLITE'S SYSTEMS ARE WORKING AS NECESSARY AND THE PICTURES THAT WERE RECEIVED FRIDAY AFTERNOON ... WERE OF AN EXCELLENT QUALITY," SUSLIK TOLD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.
