AJ
Iran obtained high-quality satellite images of an attack on Jordan, but was it provided by China directly?
US officials who are familiar with the attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in northeastern Jordan on July 17 said Tehran obtained high-resolution satellite imagery from unidentified Chinese entities both before and after the strike, and that US intelligence had linked the imagery to the attack.
Officials called the findings the clearest evidence so far that Chinese support to Iran during the war has had lethal consequences for US forces, but stressed they had not identified the suppliers or alleged direct involvement by Beijing.
Those with short members will be unlikely to remember a Financial Times report from April 15, which said that leaked Iranian military documents showed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Forces had acquired a Chinese-made satellite, known as TEE-01B, and sources claim it is capable of returning high-resolution images to Iran.
Iranian ballistic missiles struck a barracks where troops were sleeping at the Muwaffaq Salti base, killing three soldiers and wounding four others, while both manned and unmanned aircraft were targeted, and it was one of three missile strikes on the base within a 24-hour period.
Within three days of the strikes, Iran had released high-resolution imagery showing damage in three separate areas, while lower-resolution publicly-available satellite imagery analysed by The Wall Street Journal showed damage to more than 20 structures across those areas.
Findings could further strain US-China relations ahead of a planned September 24 Trump-Xi Summit, but Trump has allegedly told his team that maintaining good relations with China and Xi is a top priority, while Senior US officials have sought to avoid any public confrontations with Beijing that could overshadow or derail the summit.
US officials raised the imagery with Chinese counterparts, who demanded proof, while Beijing has repeatedly rejected US concerns, with Beijing repeatedly rejecting the concerns from the US, and China’s Foreign Ministry accusing ‘certain entities’ of trying to link China to the conflict.
According to a White House official, no outside assistance has enhanced Iran’s ability to attack the United States, but after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi just days after the strike, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to directly answer whether China was providing information, saying: “Nothing that China has done has in any way changed the trajectory of the conflict.”
Officials and analysts said Iran’s targeting accuracy appeared to have improved over the summer and that fresh Chinese high-resolution imagery could help identify recent changes at bases, select high-impact targets quickly, assess post-strike effectiveness, and determine where to strike again.
The officials claimed the imagery is likely to be liked to one of several Iranian intelligence arms, alongside Iran’s own satellites and human sources, as well as intelligence and imagery from Russia, within a broader flow of Chinese technology and data that included navigation services and components used in Iranian drones, missiles, air defence systems, and radars.
Former CIA analyst said that the cumulative assistance started to look pretty substantial in improving Iran’s long-range strike capabilities.
US officials are also concerned that Chinese support could extend to tracking US naval assets, because Iran have recently fired ballistic missiles at a US aircraft carrier and warships, which Central Command claimed had failed, but officials later described as close calls, saying Iran’s ability to target moving vessels appeared to be improving.
The officials and analysts said China’s satellite industry can blur the line between commercial and state companies because ostensibly private firms operated under extensive government oversight and many had links to the Chinese government or Communist Party.
Washington could seek to disrupt Chinese assistance through sanctions and pressure on Beijing, but it would be difficult to target specific companies without knowing which are involved.
Back in May, the Trump administration sanctioned MizarVision, Earth Eye, and Chang Guang after accusing them of providing, collecting, or publishing imagery that Iran could use to target US forces.
State Department officials also previously accused Chang Guang of providing satellite imagery that directly supported attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
Congressional officials and lawmakers on the intelligence committee have also been briefed in recent weeks on Russian and Chinese support to Iran, but some intel specialists and AJ News are led to believe most assistance is in relation to radar and communication equipment to restore Iran’s ability to monitor and control the Strait of Hormuz.
