US Seizes Chinese Military Shipment Heading to Iran

A US special operations team has seized a shipment of military equipment heading to Iran from China.

The interdiction was aimed at stopping Tehran from rebuilding its ballistic missile arsenal, which was heavily depleted during its 12-day war with Israel in June, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The ship, which has not been publicly identified, was off the coast of Sri Lanka when it was boarded by US special operatives who confiscated its cargo, which an official said was dual-use components which could be used for conventional weapons.

Chinese companies often provide measurement devices to improve the precision of Iranian missiles, such as spectrometers and gyroscopes, according to Behnam Ben Taleblu, the Iran director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“That is much more dangerous than chemical precursors,” he added.

Intelligence gathered by the US suggested the ship’s cargo was bound for Iranian companies that specialise in acquiring parts for Tehran’s missile programme.

Donald Trump’s administration has taken an increasingly interventionist maritime strategy. The operation took place weeks before the US on Wednesday seized a sanctioned oil tanker near Venezuela which had been used to transport oil to Iran.

Iran is attempting to rebuild its shattered ballistic missile arsenal, having bombarded Israel with around 500 during their 12-day war in June. Roughly 1,000 more are estimated to have been destroyed in Israeli strikes.

The UN imposed an arms embargo on Iran, and a ban on uranium enrichment and activity related to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

In Jan 2024, US Central Command confiscated ballistic and cruise missile components made in Iran and bound for Houthi rebels off the coast of Somalia.

The US seized Iranian oil shipments from several tankers in 2020 and 2023, claiming they were violating sanctions and that proceeds would be used to fund Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the US and several other countries have named a designated terrorist organisation.

Two Democratic congressmen last month urged Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, and John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, to investigate several shipments of sodium perchlorate from China to Iran.

Raja Krishnamoorthi and Joe Courtney suggested the chemicals could be used for missile propellants and claimed Beijing “seems increasingly emboldened to assist Tehran’s rearmament efforts with impunity”.

Last month, the US Treasury sanctioned dozens of entities around the world as part of its “maximum pressure” policy, claiming they had been used to procure supplies for Iran’s ballistic missile and drone production.

“By remaining a permissive jurisdiction for the export of illicit technologies, China is an enabler for Iran’s ballistic missiles programme,” Ben Taleblu said.

On Wednesday, the US seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela destined for Cuba, escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas.

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large – the largest one ever seized actually,” Donald Trump announced.

Footage of the moment US troops took control of the tanker shows helicopters hovering above the vast ship as soldiers rappel onto the deck and search for the crew.