Michael Lippin
VOA, Feb. 3, 2025
“It makes sense for Iran to try to obtain more of these precursor chemicals from China because Tehran sees Beijing as a more trusted partner than other nations.”
The Trump administration has made its first comment on Western media reports that Iran is trying to ship a missile propellant ingredient from China, telling VOA it is aware of the reports published last month, while declining to confirm their veracity.
Responding to a VOA query about the purported Iranian scheme, a State Department spokesperson said in a Jan. 30 statement, “We are aware of the press reports. However, we do not comment on intelligence matters.”
Britain’s Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal in the United States published reports on Jan. 22 and 23 respectively, citing unnamed Western officials as saying Iran-flagged ships Golbon and Jairan were in the process of being loaded with 1,000 metric tons of sodium perchlorate near Ningbo on China’s eastern coast. The Financial Times described its sources as “security officials” in two Western countries, while The Wall Street Journal attributed the same information to a “Western official” and other “people familiar with the matter.”
The news outlets said the purported shipment could be transformed into enough ammonium perchlorate — a key solid fuel propellant component — to produce 260 midrange Iranian missiles.
Both the Golbon container ship and the Jairan cargo ship are sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. The vessels’ appearance on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals List means they are blocked from U.S.-related commerce.
In its statement, the State Department said the U.S. “remains focused on preventing the proliferation of items, equipment, and technology that could benefit Iran’s missile or other weapons programs and continues to hold Iran accountable through sanctions.”
A spokesman for Iran’s U.N. Mission in New York did not respond to a VOA request emailed on Friday to confirm whether Iran is using the Golbon and Jairan to ship sodium perchlorate from China, and whether Western media reports have prompted any changes to the alleged scheme…..SOURCE