Radio France Internationale (RFI) Chinese Edition recently reported that intelligence reports provided by security officials in two Western countries stated two Iranian cargo ships will sail from China to Iran in the next few weeks “to carry important chemical components for missile propulsion agents.” These two cargo ships, namely “GOLBON” and “JAIRAN”, bear the Iranian flag. The vessels are expected to carry more than 1,000 tons of Sodium Perchlorate. This substance is used to create Ammonium Perchlorate, a principal ingredient for solid missile propellant.
This payload of Ammonium Perchlorate can produce 1300 tons of missile solid propellant, enough for 260 medium range missiles such as Iran’s the “Kheibar Shekan” (Castle Destroyer) missile or its “Haj Qassem” missile. Ammonium Perchlorate is a controlled chemical under the international “missile technology export control system” (MTCR).
According to RFI, these chemicals are about to be shipped to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Thirty-four 20-foot containers filled with the chemicals were loaded onto the Golbon near Shanghai, which already departed Daishan Island last week. The Jairan is expected to leave China in early February loaded with 22 additional containers.
The Chinese Embassy in the United States said that it was “unfamiliar” with the situation.
Source: RFI Chinese, January 22, 2025
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