US President Donald Trump’s assault on Iran has killed the country’s supreme leader and left it burning through missiles, but there’s little sign Tehran can count on Beijing to bolster its defenses.
Reports have swirled in recent months of Chinese air defense systems destined for Iran alongside claims China is shipping missile propellant ingredients to the Islamic Republic, although neither side has publicly commented. After Trump’s strike, China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed a separate account that Beijing was poised to arm Iran with supersonic anti-ship missiles as “not true.”
So far, there isn’t any evidence from the battlefield that Chinese weapons have been deployed, a contrast with the recent Thai-Cambodia border war and India-Pakistan conflict. President Xi Jinping has limited China’s public support to condemning the US for attacking Tehran, which supplies about 13% of its seaborne crude.
China’s Ministry of Defense didn’t reply to a request for comment.
“It’s hard to say China is a major arms supplier to Iran, but it does supply dual-use tech,” said Yang Zi, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “China is limited by sanctions as well as considerations over its ties with Sunni Gulf states and Israel.”
Explainer: Why China Is Unlikely to Rally Behind Embattled Iran
In a conflict where Iran’s retaliation has centered on waves of small, Shahed-136, one-way attack drones — essentially unsophisticated cruise missiles — such support could prove to be crucial.
The Pentagon warned in a report last year that China’s defense relationship with Iran is now focused on Chinese companies selling dual-use components for Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs. That’s complemented by an annual trilateral naval exercise with Russia — which is yet to publicly take place this year — and limited bilateral military training, according to the report.
China officially stopped selling weapons to Iran after 2005. Before that Beijing supplied a range of missiles, aircrafts and artillery to Iran, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
After the International Atomic Energy Agency in Sept 2005 said Iran was not complying with the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the United Nations Security Council — including China — unanimously adopted a resolution that established a de facto embargo on the export to and import from Iran of certain items and technology potentially related to nuclear weapons.
Direct weapon sales from China to Iran are also deterred by US sanctions. The supply of Chinese dual-use items, however, provides a cover of deniability in line with Beijing’s playbook for Russia.
While China is now the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter, Beijing has avoided selling arms to countries sanctioned by the US. That includes its “no-limits” partner Russia, although the Asian nation has continued to sell Moscow dual-use components.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has capitalized on his friendly ties with Beijing to skirt Western sanctions and acquire components to build drones to attack Ukraine. Iran supplied Russia with Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drones early in the war and shared technology that has enabled Moscow to manufacture them domestically under the name “Geran-2” as part of a $1.75 billion contract signed in of 2023.
For Iran, it could be a similar story. Over the past eight years, more than 100 Chinese and Hong Kong entities have been added to the US Entity List for assisting Iran’s export control evasion efforts, according to a report last November by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
“Chinese companies and nationals facilitate elaborate schemes to smuggle US and other internationally manufactured components into Iran,” US officials wrote.
In March 2025, the Bureau of Industry and Security accused a Mohamad Reza Rajabi, also known as Dr Alex Xu, of illicitly diverting US-origin items for Iran’s drone programs under a Silk Road Trading Company Ltd with addresses in China and Iran.
Whether China would continue to provide such support as Iran becomes embroiled in a war with the US is unclear. Unlike Russia, Tehran is not considered an important defense or trade partner for Beijing. Tehran has complained in recent years about unsatisfactory economic ties, while Beijing is wary of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
As Iran’s stockpile of missiles burns through, one likely partner it can turn to for support is Russia.
Tehran and Moscow traditionally enjoy close arms cooperation, with Iran supporting Russia in the Ukraine War as well. The Financial Times reported last month that Iran signed a secret deal with Russia to acquire thousands of advanced shoulder-fired missiles.
According to a Carnegie Politika report published Saturday, “Russian arms supplies to Iran will not only not dry up any time soon, but could increase significantly if Russia has the opportunity.”
With assistance from Philip Glamann and Tony Halpin.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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