Two Iranian vessels loaded with missile-grade chemicals are en route from Chinese ports, raising new questions about Beijing’s role in arming Israel’s greatest adversary.
Intelligence officials caught China red-handed supplying Iran’s missile program last week when they tracked the Iranian vessel Golbon loading up with missile fuel precursors at Taicang port near Shanghai. Packed with 34 containers of sodium perchlorate, the ship departed China’s Daishan island on Tuesday. Two sources who leaked the story to the Financial Times estimate that with 1,000 tons of chemical precursor Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps will be able to produce fuel for 260 medium-range missiles.
Join the JBN+ WhatsApp GroupOwned by Iranian entities, the ships are expected to make the three-week voyage to Tehran without making any port calls, which is common for sanction evaders. The sources didn’t confirm whether the Chinese government knew about the transfers. However, Beijing has faced repeated criticism from Washington and its allies for supporting both Iran and Russia.
Iran has reportedly moved around 3 million barrels of oil from its Chinese storage reserves last month. According to the Wall Street Journal, the oil came from a massive 25 million barrel stockpile that Iran had stored in China back in 2018, when Tehran feared Trump-era sanctions would block their exports. While Iran had tried to sell this stored oil before, Chinese officials only approved the recent sales after meetings with Iranian representatives in late 2023.
Needless to say, the billions to be made from its illegal oil sales could help Iran rebuild its terror networks in the Middle East. With President Donald Trump vowing to tighten the noose, Tehran appears to be racing against time to maximize the little time it has left under Biden’s failed policies.
Iran’s infamous shadow tanker fleet grew by 132 vessels last year under Biden’s watch according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), pushing their total “ghost fleet” to 477 ships. While UANI’s intelligence efforts led to over 330 ships losing their flags and helped trigger U.S. sanctions on 139 vessels, Iran still managed to export 587 million barrels through their covert shipping operations in 2024.
Some how those ships needed to be destroyed, as an unfortunate accident.
Comments (1)