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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Through artificial intelligence and chemical supplies, Beijing is strengthening Tehran's arsenal in the face of the US. Five Chinese ships have been tracked delivering critical components for rocket fuel to Iran.
A group of social media investigators has shed light on the extent of China's involvement in supporting Iran in its ongoing standoff with the US and its allies in the region. According to a report published on April 5 by the Washington Post, for weeks, more and more posts have been circulating in Chinese online space that detail US military activity.
They describe everything from equipment at bases, to aircraft carrier movements, to how planes were organized to strike Tehran. According to the report, these analyses did not simply remain online, but were passed directly to military and political circles in Iran.
Behind this flow of information lies a growing market within China: companies specializing in data analysis, often with ties to the People's Liberation Army.
They collect material from open sources - commercial satellite imagery, data from flight and maritime tracking platforms - and process it into structured systems. Then, on this basis, they use artificial intelligence to reconstruct in real time the movements of US forces and predict their next steps.
The discovery of this activity puts China in line with Russia as one of the main actors providing Iran with usable intelligence on the ground, not only to track the movements of US forces, but also to target their bases and supply networks.
In fact, just a few weeks ago it was reported that Moscow was also providing Tehran with similar data.
Why is China doing this?
Experts who closely follow Chinese intelligence operations abroad cite several possible reasons. The first is, as is often the case, financial. President Xi Jinping has long campaigned against corruption in the military, punishing senior officials.
In this context, such activities can serve as hidden sources of profit for individuals within the system, especially given the mediated nature of the operations.
Another reason is related to the need to demonstrate effectiveness. Chinese intelligence services have recently been criticized for certain failures, including a US operation in Venezuela that reportedly caught them by surprise.
In this context, support for Iran can be seen as a way to recover its image and demonstrate operational capabilities. Meanwhile, private Chinese companies are taking advantage of the great wave of artificial intelligence development, entering a
sector where the boundaries between the state and the private sector are increasingly blurred.
"Private" companies, but linked to the state
Although formally private, these companies operate in close cooperation with Chinese state structures. Many of them even operate with national military certifications - a clear indication that they are part of the defense ecosystem.
This gives Beijing an important advantage: it can profit from their activity while maintaining an official distance. In other words, the Chinese state benefits, but can deny responsibility when necessary.
Concrete assistance for the missile program
But Chinese involvement is not limited to intelligence. According to the latest reports, it is also taking concrete form on the ground. A recent analysis by the Institute for War and Peace (IWP) shows that at least 5 shipments of a chemical compound - believed to be sodium perchlorate - have arrived in Iran from China.
This substance is essential for the production of solid fuel for ballistic missiles. The importance of this development is very clear: such supplies could enable Iran to increase missile production in a very short time.
According to intelligence sources, this means direct and active support for strengthening Iranian military capabilities. The ships that transported these shipments belong to the Iranian company IRISL, which is under US sanctions.
Four of them are located near the port of Chabahar, while another is in Bandar Abbas. These moves appear to be an attempt to mitigate the effects of US and allied air strikes, which have targeted Iran's fuel and rocket engine production infrastructure.
As a former US intelligence official points out: “These companies are directly helping US adversaries. Why is no action being taken against them?” A question that remains open and is increasingly worrying. / Adapted from "Pamphlet" by "19FortyFive"
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