Iran purchased military satellite equipment from China through UAE company – FT
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used a United Arab Emirates-based company to buy Chinese satellite equipment tied to its drone program, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
Leaked contracts and shipping records show the IRGC Aerospace Force acquired a Chinese-made 4.5-meter motorized satellite antenna built by StarWin in late 2025.
The equipment was reportedly shipped from Shanghai to Bandar Abbas aboard the Chinese container ship Zhong Gu Yin Chuan. After stopping in Dubai on Aug. 28, 2025, the ship left behind a container that was later collected on Nov. 23 by the Iranian vessel Rama III, according to the Financial Times.
GPS data showed the Rama III sailing from the Persian Gulf and briefly stopping off Oman’s coast. But satellite imagery reviewed by the Financial Times showed the vessel was not in its reported location, suggesting possible GPS “spoofing.”
Four days later, satellite images of Bandar Abbas showed a vessel matching the Rama III’s size and color entering the port.
Customs documents dated October 2025 described the nearly 1.8-ton shipment, split into six cases, as “antenna and accessories.”
A contract reviewed by the Financial Times said Telesun, a UAE-based satellite communications provider, bought the equipment for Ertebatat Faragostar Kish (EFK), an Iranian telecommunications company working on a project for Iran’s Saman Industrial Group.
Two weeks ago, The New York Times reported, citing U.S. officials, that Chinese companies had been planning covert arms sales to Iran through third countries to conceal the shipments’ origins.
U.S. intelligence reportedly showed Chinese companies communicating with Iranian officials about arms sales. Officials disagreed on whether any weapons had been shipped or approved, though at least one African country was allegedly considered as a transit point. U.S. officials reportedly believe Beijing likely knew about the contacts, even if it had not formally approved supplying finished weapons to Iran.
