Iran resumed its missile production after it received a chemical shipment from China carrying the main precursor in the production of the solid propellant that powers Tehran’s mid-range conventional missiles, a US report showed.
CNN reported Thursday that ship tracking data shows the first of two vessels carrying 1,000 tons of a Chinese-made chemical that could be a key component in fuel for Iran’s military missile program has anchored outside the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
“It could be a signal that Iran’s missile production is back to business as usual after the devastating, and embarrassing, attacks by Israel on key factories last year,” CNN said.
The ship, Golbon, left the Chinese port of Taicang three weeks ago loaded with most of a 1,000-ton shipment of sodium perchlorate, the main precursor in the production of the solid propellant that powers Iran’s mid-range conventional missiles, according to two European intelligence sources.
The sodium perchlorate could allow for the production of sufficient propellant for some 260 solid rocket motors for Iran’s Kheibar Shekan missiles or 200 of the Haj Qasem ballistic missiles, according to the intelligence sources.
The shipment comes as Iran has suffered a series of regional setbacks and while US President Donald Trump announced steps to increase pressure on Iran over its advancing nuclear program.
Following Israel’s strike on Iran’s missile production facilities in October, some Western experts believed it could take at least a year before Iran could resume solid-propellant production.
According to CNN, this delivery points to Iran being not far from – or that they could already be back to – the production of its missiles.
The shipment was purchased on behalf of the Procurement Department of the Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization (SSJO), part of the Iranian body responsible for the development of Iran’s ballistic missiles, according to the sources.
The second ship, Jairan, has yet to be loaded and leave China, with both vessels operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) company, the sources told CNN.
The Jairan is due to ferry the remainder of the 1,000 tons to Iran. The Golbon left the Taicang port for Iran on January 21.
The delivery of sodium perchlorate in itself is not illegal, nor does it breach Western sanctions.
In a response to a request for comment from CNN, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China has consistently abided by export controls on dual-use items in accordance with its international obligations and domestic laws and regulations.
Both the Golbon and Jairan are under US sanctions.
The United States and United Kingdom have levied sanctions against IRISL company, with the State Department saying the firm is the “preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents.”
The UK treasury said the company was “involved in hostile activity” by Iran and highlighted its links to the Iranian defense sector.
Meanwhile, China has remained a diplomatic and economic ally for sanctions-hit Iran, decrying “unilateral” US sanctions against the country and welcoming Tehran into Beijing- and Moscow-led international blocs like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS.
The US has in recent years, however, sanctioned a number of Chinese entities for alleged roles supporting Iranian military drone production.
A key ingredient
While Iran would need solid propellant for a range of missiles, including smaller air defense weapons, the lion’s share of such deliveries would likely be headed towards Iran’s ballistic missile program, Fabian Hinz, research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told CNN.
Although sodium perchlorate trade is not restricted by Western sanctions, it can be chemically transformed into ammonium perchlorate - a fuel and oxidizer which is a controlled product.
“Ammonium perchlorate is the material that was used in the solid rocket propellants of the Space Shuttle,” Andrea Sella, professor of inorganic chemistry at University College London, told CNN.
Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, told CNN that China has long been “a primary source of sodium perchlorate for Iran’s missile programs, dating at least to the mid-2000s.”
“This is just the latest shipment in a decades-old pattern,” Lewis added.
Supply troubles
Defense analyst Hinz said that while Iran has previously boasted of its ability to produce ammonium perchlorate itself, this delivery hints at supply chain bottlenecks as domestic precursor supply has been unable to meet missile production needs. It’s a problem even countries like the US can face, he added.
Hinz said that Iran’s solid propellant production infrastructure has “dramatically expanded in the last few years - and potentially even since October 7, (2023),” with new sites built and existing ones enlarged.
Solid propellant is also used in Iran’s short-range missiles – like those used in the past against US bases in the region and in exports to Russia, Hinz said. Iran’s largest and most powerful ballistic missiles typically use liquid propellant.
According to the Israeli Army, wreckage from at least one Kheibar Shakan missile was recovered following Iran’s October 1, 2024 barrage against Israel.
Analysis from one of the Western sources confirmed that some 50 medium-range missiles with solid propulsion were fired at Israel by Iran in this attack.
A western intelligence official told CNN that, although relevant US government agencies are aware of the delivery, there is limited concern over the shipment. If Iran does funnel the chemicals towards missile fuel production, especially on weapons destined for Russia, that will be of greater concern, the source said.
