WASHINGTON (Reuters) – 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 FT said the Iranian-flagged ships, the Golbon and the Jairan, are 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.
It reported two officials said 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 FT cited the officials as saying the sodium perchlorate was being shipped to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and that 34 20-foot (six-metre) containers containing the chemical had been loaded onto the Golbon, which departed the Chinese island of Daishan on Tuesday.
It said the Jairan is 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 on the Persian Gulf, the FT reported.
The report said data from vessel tracker Marine Traffic showed the Golbon spent at least several days off Daishan Island before leaving on Tuesday. It said Marine Traffic showed the Jairan about 75 km (47 miles) south of Daishan off the coast of Ningbo in China’s Zhejiang province early on Wednesday.
The FT said the officials could not say if Beijing was aware of the shipments.
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 key actors in Iran’s ballistic missile development.
Last July, the U.S. imposed sanctions on five individuals and seven entities based in Iran, China, and Hong Kong it accused of being facilitators for Iran’s missile and drones program.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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