Ships with missile propellant ingredient set to sail from China to Iran, FT reports

Two Iranian cargo vessels carrying an ingredient for missile propellant will sail from China to Iran in the next few weeks, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing intelligence from security officials in two Western countries.

The reported transactions could make the Chinese entities involved subject to U.S. sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's weapons programs, as the two Iranian vessels are already under U.S. sanctions.

The FT said the Iranian-flagged ships, the Golbon and the Jairan, were expected to carry more than 1,000 tonnes of sodium perchlorate, which is used to make ammonium perchlorate, the main ingredient for solid propellant for missiles.

Ammonium perchlorate is among chemicals controlled by the Missile Technology Export Control Regime, a voluntary international anti-proliferation body.

The FT said the officials could not say if Beijing was aware of the shipments.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters at a regular press briefing in Beijing that she was not aware of the specifics of the case but that China has always abided by its export control laws as well as the country's international obligations. Mao added that China continued to oppose what it considers to be illegal unilateral sanctions.

The FT report cited two unnamed officials as saying that the sodium perchlorate could produce 960 tonnes of ammonium perchlorate, enough to make 1,300 tonnes of propellant, which could fuel 260 mid-range Iranian missiles.

The officials said the sodium perchlorate was being shipped to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and that 34 20-foot (6-metre) containers containing the chemical had been loaded onto the Golbon, which departed the Chinese island of Daishan on Tuesday and was off the coast of Ningbo in China’s Zhejiang province early on Wednesday.

The FT said the Jairan was expected to depart China with 22 containers in early February. The officials told the FT that both ships, owned by Iranian entities, were expected to make the three-week voyage to Iran without making any port calls.

The officials said the chemicals were loaded onto the Golbon at Taicang, a port just north of Shanghai, and were destined for Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

U.S. SANCTIONS

Doug Jacobson, a Washington-based sanctions lawyer, said that while U.N. sanctions on Iran's missile program were no longer in effect, Chinese entities involved in the alleged transactions could face U.S. sanctions against dealings with both the IRGC and the already sanctioned vessels.

Vann Van Diepen, a retired U.S. non-proliferation official, said Chinese entities had been helping Iran's missile program since the 1980s. He said Iran probably had its own ammonia perchlorate production facility by now, but may need feedstock to make the chemical.

"It's probably not sort of a continuous flow thing," he said. "But from time to time, over these many years, these kinds of shipments will go on."

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but an official there, who did not want to be identified, said that if the missiles were designed to be used by Russia in Ukraine, the shipment could be subject to U.S. sanctions to curb dealings with Moscow.

In 2023, The United States imposed sanctions on people and entities in China, Hong Kong and Iran, including Iran's defense attache in Beijing, over accusations they helped procure parts and technology for Iran's ballistic missile development. It imposed similar sanctions on individuals and entities last year.