Chinese shipments fueling Iran's weapons programs despite US sanctions - report
The report puts Chinese support for Iran at the center of President Xi Jinping's Washington visit this week, a summit President Trump has said will also cover trade, artificial intelligence and Taiwan
A Wall Street Journal investigation found Chinese suppliers sent around 1,300 shipments of dual-use components to Iran's defense ministry in the first half of 2026, sustaining Tehran's drone and missile programs even as Washington pressed Beijing over its support for Iran. The findings come as President Xi Jinping visits Washington this week for a summit with President Trump covering trade, AI safety and Taiwan.
Iranian customs records reviewed by the Journal, covering January 2025 through June 2026, listed thousands of shipments to Iran's defense ministry, including GPS devices, electric motors and aircraft engine parts, many citing a tariff exemption for defense imports.
Data showed one shipment of electronics components used in drone and missile guidance systems arrived in Tehran on the same day the US and Iran signed a 60-day truce in June. More than a dozen additional shipments worth over $6 million in drone-usable parts followed two days later.
China has become the only major buyer of Iranian oil despite US sanctions, providing billions of dollars to Tehran this year through Chinese front companies and banks that route transactions using China's currency to evade US oversight, according to US officials cited by the Journal. Satellite imagery from Chinese entities has also been linked by US officials to an Iranian strike that killed three American troops.
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The Journal reported that President Trump has told top officials that preserving relations with Xi is a priority, leading senior officials to downplay Chinese support for Iran ahead of the summit. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that China was enabling Iran "at different levels," while Trump said he trusted Xi's assurances that China would not supply Iran with weapons.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Chinese assistance had not changed the war's trajectory.
Despite hundreds of US sanctions, including the late-August "Operation Economic Outcast," no major Chinese companies have been targeted. Roughly four million barrels of Iranian oil reportedly reached China in the week after the program launched.
Senator Elissa Slotkin urged Trump to make Chinese support for Iran a "centerpiece" of his talks with Xi, while Beijing has denied wrongdoing, saying it maintains strict export controls and opposes unilateral US sanctions.