The ship was boarded in the Indian Ocean last month, with military equipment being seized, officials revealed to the Wall Street Journal.
US forces seized a Chinese cargo headed to Iran, as part of an operation to disrupt the rearming of Iranian regime forces, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The ship was boarded in the Indian Ocean last month, with military equipment being seized, officials revealed to the US newspaper.
The previously undisclosed operation occurred near the coast of Sri Lanka, with US operatives tracking the weapons shipment and intercepting it before letting the vessel continue on its way.
This marks the first time in years that the US military intercepted a Chinese-origin vessel en route to Iran.
The name of the ship and its owner were not identified in the report.
What Was Seized
The cargo consisted of dual-use components with both civilian and military applications, potentially useful for Iran’s conventional weapons, one official said, adding that the shipment was destroyed.
US intelligence suggested the cargo was destined for Iranian companies that specialize in procuring components for Tehran’s missile program, according to officials and a person familiar with the operation.
The operation included special operations forces as well as conventional forces under US Indo-Pacific Command, which declined to comment on the raid.
China-Iran Relations
Chinese sales of products suspected of going to Iran’s missile program have come under increased scrutiny in the US.
In November, two Democratic congressmen urged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe to investigate a large shipment of chemicals from China to Iran potentially useful in missile propellants.
Two Iranian ships have been sailing from China with tons of sodium perchlorate, which can be used for both civilian purposes and also as a key ingredient in the production of ammonium perchlorate.
Ammonium perchlorate is an oxidizer used in solid fuel propellant to build Iranian ballistic missiles.
In April, the US Treasury sanctioned several Iranian and Chinese entities for facilitating transfers of chemical precursors to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps useful for ballistic missile production.
In late September, the United Nations reimposed an international ban on Iran arms trades, aiming to halt and prevent any Iranian operations related to creating weapons with nuclear capabilities.
Strategic Context
The raid was part of a Pentagon effort to disrupt Iran’s clandestine military procurement after Israel and the US inflicted heavy damage on Iranian nuclear and missile facilities during a 12-day conflict in June.
Iranian officials say they are redoubling efforts to rebuild the country’s ballistic missile arsenal, fearing a new confrontation with Israel.
The operation occurred weeks before the US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela that had been used to transport oil from Venezuela to Iran.
China has long been a diplomatic and economic ally for Iran, importing its crude oil and decrying US sanctions on Tehran as illegal.
Spokespeople for Iran and China’s foreign ministry didn’t return requests for comment.
