European intelligence agencies say several shipments of sodium perchlorate — the main precursor to the production of solid propellant used in Iran's conventional medium-range missiles — arrived from China to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas in late September. The shipments included 2,000 tons of sodium perchlorate purchased by Iran from Chinese suppliers. The purchases are believed to be part of Iran's vigorous efforts to rebuild its depleted missile stockpile, CNN reported on Friday.
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What materials does China supply to Iran?
What are the UN sanctions on Iran?
What actions is Iran taking regarding the war?
How is China responding to US sanctions on Iran?
Under UN sanctions, countries are obliged not to help Iran produce weapons. China and Russia have opposed reimposing retaliation, saying it undermines efforts to “diplomatically resolve the issue of Iran's nuclear program.”
Sodium perchlorate is not listed by the UN among the materials banned for export to Iran, but it is a direct precursor to ammonium perchlorate, a UN-banned oxidant used in ballistic missiles. Experts say the lack of an explicit ban on sodium perchlorate could leave room for China to argue that it is not violating any U.N. ban.
Ships from China are sailing to Iran
CNN tracked the travels of several cargo ships identified by intelligence sources as involved in the recent shipments of sodium perchlorate from China to Iran, using ship tracking data and crew members' social media accounts. According to the station, many of these ships have made several trips between China and Iran since the end of April, and their crews are most likely employed by the Shipping Lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
It is not clear whether the Chinese government knows about these transports, the American station emphasized. A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said China “consistently implements export controls on dual-use items in accordance with its international obligations and domestic laws and regulations.”
The spokesman also emphasized that China is committed to “a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear program through political and diplomatic means and opposes sanctions and pressure.” He added that Beijing views the resumption of snapback sanctions as “unconstructive” and a “serious setback” in efforts to “resolve the Iran nuclear issue.”
China condemns US sanctions on Iran
Similar deliveries have been reported before, but their intensification since the 12-day war between US-backed Israel and Iran in June suggests that Tehran is intensively rearming, CNN stressed.
— Iran now needs much larger amounts of sodium perchlorate to replace missiles spent during the war and increase their production. I would expect large deliveries to Iran, which is trying to rearm, just as I would expect Israel and the US to try to replace interceptors and ammunition used up (during the war – PAP) as quickly as possible, said Jeffrey Lewis from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies think tank.
China has long been a diplomatic and economic ally of Iran, denouncing “unilateral” US sanctions against the country and purchasing most of Iran's oil exports, CNN reported.
