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Shop NowIt appears that the Ayatollah just got a big delivery of missile fuel. A second shipment is on the way from China. That’s a clue suggesting “Iran’s missile production is back to business as usual.” Amazingly, with all the sanctions on Iran, these particular loads of cargo aren’t illegal.
Solid fuel rockets
A ship carrying “1,000 tons of a Chinese-made chemical that could be a key component in fuel for Iran’s military missile program has anchored outside the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.” It pulled in on Thursday, February 13, tracking data confirms.
Experts take it as a sign the Ayatollah is planning to get aggressive “after the devastating, and embarrassing, attacks by Israel on key factories last year.”
The first shipment was carried aboard the Golbon, which “left the Chinese port of Taicang three weeks ago loaded with most of a 1,000-ton shipment of sodium perchlorate.”
It has a few uses but insiders believe Iran wants it as rocket fuel. The substance is “the main precursor in the production of the solid propellant that powers Iran’s mid-range conventional missiles.”
The first load of chemicals “could allow for the production of sufficient propellant for some 260 solid rocket motors for Iran’s Kheibar Shekan missiles or 200 of the Haj Qasem ballistic missiles.” That’s a lot of rocket fuel.
If the Ayatollah isn’t bluffing, he’s getting ready to launch a major offensive. That would be a bold move considering all the setbacks Israel dealt their proxy forces. Now that Donald Trump’s on the scene, it’s a whole new ball game.
Save a year
Finding a Chinese supply of missile fuel was a big deal for Iran. Back in October, intelligence experts were estimating “it could take at least a year before Iran could resume solid-propellant production.” Getting the stuff ready to go off the shelf means “they could already be back to” missile production.
Another sign that the chemical is to be used for missiles is the fact the “shipment was purchased on behalf of the Procurement Department of the Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization, part of the Iranian body responsible for the development of Iran’s ballistic missiles.”
A second vessel, the Jairan is waiting to be loaded in China. Both of the ships are “operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.” Reports note that “the delivery of sodium perchlorate in itself is not illegal, nor does it breach Western sanctions.”
It will be interesting to see if the second shipment of rocket fuel makes it all the way to Iran. Something could happen to it on the high seas.
China swears up and down they don’t know anything about it and so what if they did? “China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters in January that she was not aware of the specifics of the case, but that China has always abided by its export control laws as well as the country’s international obligations.”
So what if they shipped a little rocket fuel to Iran? They’re allies. That’s why Trump’s slapping down major tariffs.
