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China Sent 1,300 Shipments of Drone, Missile Parts to Iran This Year
Confirmed
In Short: Iranian customs records reviewed by the Journal showed shipments containing GPS devices, electric motors, aircraft engine parts, and other dual-use equipment.
According to The Wall Street Journal, China has sent around 1,300 air shipments containing dual-use components for drones and missiles to Iran’s Defense Ministry this year through the end of June.
One shipment arrived in Tehran on June 17, the same day the US and Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire, and Beijing publicly touted its efforts to help end the fighting.
The deliveries were part of a surge in cargo flights from China to Iran, providing Tehran with a key supply route for its weapons programs as US sanctions and a naval blockade restricted maritime trade.
Mahan Air, an Iranian airline under US sanctions accused of ferrying cash, weapons, and personnel for Iran, sharply increased its China-Iran flights after the war began.
The report said that the shipments formed part of broader Chinese support that has helped Iran sustain its weapons programs and economy during the war.
Earlier this month, the Journal reported that Chinese entities supplied Iran with high-quality satellite imagery of a US Air Force base in Jordan both before and after Tehran launched a deadly ballistic missile attack on the facility on July 17.
Beijing has repeatedly refused to acknowledge that any Chinese firms have supplied Iran with satellite imagery to target US forces.
Chinese companies have additionally helped supply Iran with chemical precursors used in weapons production.
China has said that it strictly controls exports of dual-use goods and that it rejects unilateral US sanctions on trade with Iran.
Two days later, more than a dozen shipments arrived carrying over $6 million worth of parts that could be used in drones.
Some shipments were designated as defense imports exempt from Iranian tariffs.
China remains the main buyer of Iranian oil despite US sanctions.
What's confirmed
- Iranian customs records reviewed by the Journal showed shipments containing GPS devices, electric motors, aircraft engine parts and other dual-use equipment.
- Two days later, more than a dozen shipments arrived carrying over $6 million worth of parts that could be used in drones.
- China remains the main buyer of Iranian oil despite US sanctions.
What's still developing
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that China was enabling Iran "at different levels," while Trump said he trusted Xi's assurances that China would not supply Iran with weapons.
- Senator Elissa Slotkin urged Trump to make Chinese support for Iran a "centerpiece" of his talks with Xi, while Beijing has denied wrongdoing, saying it maintains strict export controls and opposes unilateral US sanctions.
- It is at least the sixth partial or total blackout to hit Cuba this year, where ageing electricity infrastructure and chronic fuel shortages have been placed under further strain by a US blockade on oil shipments to the communist-run nation.
- Following the war that started late February when the U.S and Israel attacked Iran, Tehran has attempted to close the strait, crucial to global oil and natural gas shipments, to inflict economic pain on Washington.
- In response the U.S is enfocing a naval blockade on Iranian ports, and have been escorting tankers through the strait despite Iran's attempts to shoot at them.
- The diplomatic move has been under consideration since June 2025 when the IAEA board found Iran officially in noncompliance with its nonproliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years — one day before the U.S.