January 24, 2025 | Flash Brief
Ships in China Loaded With Missile Fuel Ingredients Prepare to Set Sail for Iran
January 24, 2025 | Flash Brief
Ships in China Loaded With Missile Fuel Ingredients Prepare to Set Sail for Iran
Latest Developments
- Enough Fuel for Hundreds of Missiles: China continues to demonstrate its support for Iran as reports this week indicated that two Iranian ships docked in China had been loaded with a key chemical ingredient to produce solid fuel propellant for ballistic missiles. The ships, the Jairan and the Golbon, are expected to set sail for Iran in the coming weeks. The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that the vessels are carrying 1,000 tons of sodium perchlorate — a chemical controlled by the Missile Technology Control Regime anti-proliferation body. This amount can produce 960 tons of ammonium perchlorate — which makes up 70 percent of the propellant from solid-fuel missiles — enough to produce approximately 260 ballistic missiles.
- Israel Limits Iran’s Missile Production: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has focused its missile development on solid-fuel missiles, claiming that these are for its space program. In response to Iran’s second missile attack on Israel on October 1, the Jewish state destroyed key facilities for producing solid-fuel missiles at Iran’s Parchin military site and the IRGC’s Shahroud ballistic missile and space center on October 26, with U.S. officials saying that the attack could delay Iran’s solid-fuel missile production by a year or more.
- China Has Long Supported Iranian Military Programs: China is the largest importer of sanctioned Iranian oil and has provided critical assistance for Iran’s military, nuclear, and missile programs since the 1990s. In 2021, Iran and China signed a 25-year strategic agreement that promoted military, security, and economic cooperation. The U.S. Treasury Department continues to expose and sanction procurement networks and suppliers with ties to China that support Iran’s ballistic missile program.
FDD Expert Response
“While China has played a significant role in Iran’s solid-propellant missile development over the years, the regime has become relatively self-sufficient in the production of fuel, precursors, and oxidizers — chemicals that are needed to produce solid fuel propellant. Nonetheless, in military planning, redundancy is key, particularly after Israel successfully struck much of the regime’s domestic missile manufacturing in October.” — Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow
“This development underscores that America and its partners lack a strategy to counter growing proliferation cooperation between an ‘Axis of Aggressors’ comprising China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. It also suggests the window for a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities may be closing if Tehran can use this assistance to overcome the bottleneck Israel imposed and produce new missiles.” — Andrea Stricker, Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program Deputy Director and Research Fellow
“China’s oil purchases provide a lifeline to Tehran’s sanctions-battered economy while allowing Iranian proxies to acquire weapons components used to strike the United States and Israel. If delivered, these latest shipments would only showcase China’s deepening ties to its authoritarian partners and spotlight its contributions to regional chaos.” — Jack Burnham, Research Analyst
FDD Background and Analysis
“Arsenal: Assessing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program,” by Behnam Ben Taleblu
“‘Pressing the Gas Pedal’: UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Warns of Iran’s Accelerating Enrichment,” FDD Flash Brief
“China Arming Houthi Rebels in Yemen in Exchange For Unimpeded Red Sea Passage,” FDD Flash Brief
“Iran Seeks Purchase of Advanced Spy Satellites from China,” FDD Flash Brief
“China Lies About Its Oil Imports from Iran,” by Saeed Ghasseminejad