Iran in Secret Talks with China, Russia to Acquire Ballistic Missile Fuel

Iranian ballistic missiles on the sidelines of a demonstration last February (IRNA)
Iranian ballistic missiles on the sidelines of a demonstration last February (IRNA)
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Iran in Secret Talks with China, Russia to Acquire Ballistic Missile Fuel

Iranian ballistic missiles on the sidelines of a demonstration last February (IRNA)
Iranian ballistic missiles on the sidelines of a demonstration last February (IRNA)

China and Russia are engaged in secret talks with Iran to supply a key chemical compound used to propel ballistic missiles, according to diplomats familiar with the matter. The move could potentially help Moscow replenish its depleted stock of rockets.

Under UN resolution 2231, passed in 2015, countries are prohibited from supplying Iran with the chemical compound without approval from the UN Security Council.

According to Politico, which cited informed sources, Tehran has held concurrent negotiations with officials and government-controlled entities from both countries, including the state-owned Russian chemical maker FKP Anozit, to acquire large amounts of ammonium perchlorate, or AP, the main ingredient in solid propellants used to power missiles.

In Beijing, Iranian diplomat Sajjad Ahadzadeh, who serves as Tehran’s “technology counselor” in China and the broader region has led the talks to acquire AP, according to the diplomats familiar with the matter.

The exact quantity of AP Iran is seeking to purchase isn’t clear, but the diplomats familiar with its plans estimate it would be sufficient to build thousands of rockets, including the Zolfaghar missile, which has a range of 700 km and has been used by both Iran and its proxies in the Middle East in recent years.

If the deal goes through, some of those rockets could end up being deployed against Ukraine, said the diplomats.

Iran is accused of having supplied Russia with so-called kamikaze drones that it has used to attack Ukrainian civilian targets and has also advised Moscow on how to circumvent the international sanctions.

The talks about procuring AP follow a warming of relations between Iran, Russia, and China — which see themselves as a bulwark against US influence — in the wake of Moscow’s all-out war against Ukraine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited Moscow last month, has stopped short of openly endorsing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine but has left little doubt that Beijing’s allegiances ultimately rest with Russia.

China, which recently presented a peace plan that critics say would force Ukraine to cede territory occupied by Russia, wants to make sure the Kremlin doesn’t lose the war, amid fears that could trigger the collapse of its neighbor and wider destabilization.

Helping Russia via Iran by supplying the latter with AP, the diplomats familiar with the matter said, is one way China could offer Moscow substantial support behind the scenes.

China may be considering flouting UN sanctions it signed off on to help Russia’s war effort betrays deep concern in Beijing over its ally’s prospects, Western analysts said.



Trump Says US Has Given Ukraine Too Many Weapons in First Public Comments on Pause in Shipments

A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
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Trump Says US Has Given Ukraine Too Many Weapons in First Public Comments on Pause in Shipments

A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)

President Donald Trump complained Thursday that the United States provided too many weapons to Ukraine under the previous administration, his first public comments on the pause in some shipments as Russia escalates its latest offensive.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Iowa, Trump said former President Joe Biden "emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves."

Air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons are among those being withheld from Ukraine. The country suffered a new barrage overnight, with warnings of ballistic missiles followed by explosions in Kyiv. The sound of machine gun fire and drone engines could be heard across the capital.

Trump, who also spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, suggested he wasn't completely cutting off American assistance to Ukraine.

"We've given so many weapons," he said, adding that "we are working with them and trying to help them."

Trump said he had a "pretty long call" with Putin that "didn't make any progress" in resolving the war, which the Republican president had promised to swiftly bring to a conclusion.

"I’m not happy about that," he said.

The Kremlin described the conversation as "frank and constructive" — the sixth publicly disclosed chat between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House.

While discussing the situation around Iran and in the broader Middle East, Putin emphasized the need to resolve all differences "exclusively by political and diplomatic means," said Yuri Ushakov, his foreign affairs adviser.

The leaders agreed that Russian and US officials will maintain contact on the issue, he added.

The United States struck three sites in Iran on June 22, inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying Tehran's nuclear program.

On the conflict in Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasized his push for a quick halt to the fighting, and Putin voiced Moscow’s readiness to pursue talks with Kyiv, noting the previous rounds in Türkiye yielded humanitarian results.

At the same time, the Russian leader emphasized that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the "root causes" of the conflict, Ushakov said.

"Russia will not back down from these goals," Ushakov told reporters after the call.

Putin has argued he sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to fend off a threat to Russia posed by Ukraine's push to join NATO and to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine — arguments rejected by Kyiv and its allies. He insisted that any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine abandon its NATO bid and recognize Russia's territorial gains.

Ushakov said a suspension of some US weapons shipments to Ukraine wasn’t discussed in the Trump-Putin call.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Denmark after meeting with major European Union backers that he may talk to Trump in the coming days about the suspension.

"I hope that maybe tomorrow, or close days, these days, I will speak about it with President Trump," he said.

The previous publicly known call between Trump and Putin came June 14, a day after Israel attacked Iran.

The resumed contact between Trump and Putin appeared to reflect their interest in mending US-Russian ties that have plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War.

Ushakov said the leaders discussed developments in Syria and expressed interest in pursuing bilateral projects in the energy sector and space exploration, during what he described as "frank, businesslike and concrete conversation."

The Kremlin adviser added that Putin even suggested that the US and Russia could exchange movies promoting "traditional values shared by us and the Trump administration."

On Tuesday, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first direct telephone call in almost three years.