Over 1,000 tons of missile fuel chemicals head for Iran from China

Iranian cargo vessels will reportedly carry more than 1,000 tons of sodium perchlorate, a key ingredient to make the missile propellant ammonium perchlorate. 

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JANUARY 22, 2025 17:00 Updated: JANUARY 22, 2025 17:02

IRGC commander Hossein Salami tours the new "missile city" at an undisclosed location in Iran, January 11, 2025 (photo credit: IRGC/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)

Two Iranian ships carrying a chemical ingredient crucial for missile propellant will sail from China to Iran within the next few weeks, security sources from two Western countries with knowledge of the matter told the Financial Times. 

The Iranian cargo vessels – the Golbon and the Jairan – will reportedly carry more than 1,000 tons of sodium perchlorate, a key ingredient to make the missile propellant ammonium perchlorate. 

The officials said the sodium perchlorate on the ships could produce up to 960 tons of ammonium perchlorate, which is enough to fuel 260 mid-range Iranian missiles. 

Ammonium perchlorate makes up approximately 70% of propellant for solid-fuel missiles. 

Ammonium perchlorate is a substance controlled by the Missile Technology Export Control Regime, an international anti-nuclear missile proliferation body.

Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh walk during the unveiling of ''Kheibarshekan'' missile at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this picture obtained on February 9, 2022. (credit: IRGC/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)

IRGC to receive missile fuel

The Western officials said that approximately 56 20-foot containers of the chemicals are on their way to the IRGC at the port in Bandar Abbas. The Golbon departed with 34 containers from Daishan Island in the East China Sea on Tuesday; the Jairan will depart China with 22 containers in February. Both Iranian-flagged ships will make the three-week voyage to southern Iran without any stops, the Financial Times reported.

The Golbon spent several days in Chinese waters before leaving on Tuesday, according to data from vessel tracker Marine Traffic. The tracker also showed the Jairan about 75 km south of Daishan on Wednesday.

The Iranian government has not commented on the incoming shipments.

The US officials did not say if China was aware of the plans. However, Washington has historically heavily criticized Beijing for supporting Tehran and Moscow.

One expert told the Financial Times that China had sold arms to Iran as far back as 1979.

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 Additionally, the Chinese embassy in the US said it was unfamiliar with the situation and added that China is committed to “maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East and Gulf region and actively promoting the political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue."

“Since the early 1990s, China has assisted the Iranian military extensively with its ballistic missile development program and has provided expertise, technology, parts, and training,” former top CIA analyst Dennis Wilder told the Financial Times. 

“China’s motivation for secretly assisting Iran today includes clandestinely helping Iran produce missiles for the Russian war effort [in Ukraine], cementing common cause against perceived US hegemonism . . . and Beijing’s purchase annually of large amounts of discounted Iranian crude oil.”

Washington has also criticized Beijing for purchasing Iranian petroleum, which goes against US sanctions.