Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- Parliament on Sunday approved a bill allowing Iran to participate in the operation and management of the International Satellite System for Search and Rescue (Cospas-Sarsat).
Of 215 lawmakers present, 159 voted in the favor of the bill, Tehran Times reported.
Cospas-Sarsat is a satellite and ground system designed to help search and rescue operations at sea, in the air or on land.
The system works with emergency beacons (currently there are around 1 million beacons installed on maritime, air and land vehicles), which send distress alert signals and location information to satellites.
The satellites then transmit the information to search and rescue centers, which provide information to rescue teams.
Founded in the late 1970s by Canada, France, the Soviet Union and the United States, the system started operating in 1982. Since then it has assisted in saving more than 20,000 persons in over 5,000 distress situations.
According to UN Information Service, currently about 40 countries and organizations help to operate this system.
The system is available to any country on a non-discriminatory basis and is free of charge for the end-user in distress.
