Chemical Cargo Ship for Missile Propellant Arrives from China to Bandar Abbas

CNN reported, citing ship tracking data, that the first of two ships carrying 1,000 tons of a Chinese-made chemical, which could be a key element for the fuel of Iran's missile program, anchored outside Bandar Abbas port on Thursday, February 25. According to the report, this could indicate a resurgence in missile production by the Islamic Republic of Iran following Israel's devastating and humiliating attacks on the regime's main factories earlier this year. The network cited 'two European intelligence sources' stating that the ship Golbon left the port of Taizang in China about three weeks ago with a cargo of over 1,000 tons of sodium perchlorate, a primary ingredient in producing solid propellant for Iran's medium-range missiles. According to these sources, sodium perchlorate could enable the production of sufficient propellant for about 260 solid rocket motors for Iran's 'Khyber Shikan' missiles or 200 'Haj Qasim' ballistic missiles. CNN noted that this shipment comes at a time when the Islamic Republic of Iran is facing setbacks with several of its proxy groups in the region and the downfall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Earlier, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal reported separately, citing some Western officials, that two Iranian cargo ships carrying missile fuel raw materials would set sail from China to Iran in the coming days. The Financial Times, which reported on January 23 citing two Western security sources, anticipated that the ships 'Golbon' and 'Jiran' would carry a cargo of over 1,000 tons of 'sodium perchlorate', the main ingredient in producing solid missile fuel 'ammonium perchlorate'. According to this report, these shipments will be delivered to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Following this, the administration of Donald Trump, the President of the United States, in its first comment regarding reports of the shipment of missile propellant chemicals from China to the Islamic Republic of Iran, told Voice of America that it was 'aware' of these reports. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, in response to a question from Michael Lipin, a Voice of America reporter, while expressing awareness of these reports, refrained from confirming them and stated: 'We do not comment on intelligence matters.' He said that the U.S. will continue to focus on preventing the proliferation of items, equipment, and technologies that could assist the Iranian regime's missile or weapons program and will hold the Islamic Republic accountable through the imposition of further sanctions.