CNN
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The first of two ships carrying 1,000 tonnes of Chinese-made chemicals, which could be a key component of Iran’s military missile program, was locked outside Iran’s Bandar Abbas port on Thursday, according to the first. Ship tracking data shows. Iran’s missile production could indicate that it has returned to business as usual after a catastrophic and embarrassing attack by Israel last year.
The ship Golbon left China’s Sun port three weeks ago and loaded most of the 1,000 tonnes of sodium perchlorate. Intelligence source.
According to intelligence sources, sodium perchlorate can allow for the production of sufficient propellant for about 260 solid rocket motors for Iranian Cabal Shekan missiles or 200 Haji Kasem ballistic missiles. can.
Shipment comes as Iran suffered a series of regional setbacks in the collapse of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the loss of Hezbollah in Lebanon, along with the collective defeat that allies suffered. Following the Israeli strike against Iran’s missile production facilities in October, some Western experts believed it would take at least a year before Iran resumes production of its solids industry. The birth points to Iran not too far from production of missiles or may already be returning.
The shipment was purchased on behalf of the procurement department of the Subsistence Agency (SSJO), which is part of the Iranian agency responsible for developing ballistic missiles in Iran.
The second ship, Jairan, is still loaded and has not left China. Both vessels are operated by a company in the Republic of Iran (IRISL), sources told CNN. Jailan plans to ferry the rest of the 1,000 tonnes to Iran. Golbon departed Taiwan port for Iran on January 21st.
CNN contacted IRISL for comment.
Sources were unable to say whether the Chinese government knew about the shipment before media reported their moves in late January. Delivery of sodium perchlorate itself is not illegal and does not violate Western sanctions.
Mao Ning, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters in January that although she was unaware of the details of the incident, China is always following export control laws and the country’s international obligations. .
The US and the UK have imposed sanctions on Islamic Republic shipping companies, and the State Department has said it is “a priority transport line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents.”
The UK Treasury Department said the company was “involved in hostile activities” by Iran, highlighting its link to Iran’s defense division.
Both Gorbon and Jaylan are under US sanctions.
Meanwhile, China is an Iranian diplomatic and economic ally that has clashed with sanctions, denounced “unilateral” US sanctions on the country and welcomed Shanghai cooperative organisations and BRICS to Beijing and Moscow-led international blocs. Masu.
China also remains Iran’s biggest energy buyer, but has not reported Iran’s oil purchases in official customs data since 2022, according to analysts.
Despite China’s historic ties with Iran’s defense sector, observers say it has reduced security ties over the past decade as Beijing seeks to strengthen relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. Masu. However, the US has recently approved many Chinese companies for alleged roles in supporting Iran’s military drone production. Recent joint naval training between China, Iran and Russia also shows the possibility that the government could deepen its strategic ties.
Iran needs solid propellants for a variety of missiles, including small air defense weapons, but the share of lions in such delivery is directed towards Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the International Institute of Strategic Studies. It is probably heading towards Iran’s ballistic missile program.
The sodium perchlorate trade is not limited by Western sanctions, but it can be chemically converted to ammonium perchlorate, a controlled product, a fuel and an oxidant.
“Ammonium perchlorate is the material used in the solid rocket propellant in the space shuttle,” Andrea Cera, professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of London, told CNN.
“There are “no really many alternatives,” he says, “with the exception of rocket propellants, fireworks and fuels, that chemicals delivered in China can be used,” he says, “there is a rather narrow range of applications for perchlorates. there is.”
With increasing control of western perchlorate, China will become a major alternative supplier of such chemicals, he said.
China has long been “the main source of sodium perchlorate in Iran’s missile programme, dated at least in the mid-2000s,” said the director of East Asia’s non-proliferation programme at the Middlebury International Institute. One Jeffrey Lewis told CNN.
“This is just the latest shipment of a decades-old pattern,” Lewis added.
Defence analyst Hintz has previously boasted of Iran’s ability to produce ammonium lactate, but this distribution is a bottleneck in the supply chain as domestic precursor supply cannot meet missile production needs He said it suggested. Even in countries like the United States that can face, that’s a problem, he added.
Hintz said that Iran’s solid propellant production infrastructure has expanded dramatically over the past few years as new sites have been built and existing sites have been expanded, and potentially October 7th (2023) Even after 2019.”
According to Western intelligence sources, the Kheibar Shekan missile ranges from 880 miles (approximately 1,420 km) and allows Hajikasem cousins to reach targets 900 miles (approximately 1,450 km) away. Though it is not the most technically sophisticated weapon in Iranian arsenal, its range is valuable for attacks on Israel.
Hintz said that variations of such missiles are being used by Huutis, supported by Yemen, Yemen, despite distances that are superficially above the standard range of missiles. Modifications to warhead mass or secondary propulsion units could lengthen their range, he said.
Solid propellants are also used in short-range missiles in Iran. This, like it was used against exports to the region to US bases and Russia, according to Hins. Iran’s largest and most powerful ballistic missiles usually use liquid propellants.
The Israeli Defense Forces say that following the October 1 barrage of Iran against Israel on October 1, 2024, wreckage from at least one Kheibar Shakan missile has been recovered. Analysis from one of the Western sources confirmed that the attack had fired around 50 medium-range missiles in Israel with solid propulsion.
Iranian Arsenal is believed to hold “over 3,000 ballistic missiles,” U.S. Air Force General Kenneth Mackenzie told Congress in 2023 — but the exact number of missiles of each type is unknown. is.
Officials with the Western intelligence reporting agency told CNN that although US government agencies involved are aware of delivery, there are limited concerns about delivery. That would be a greater concern if Iran poured chemicals into missile fuel production, particularly towards weapons aimed at Russian weapons, sources said.
The Iranian government declined to comment in response to questions raised by CNN for this article.