China Aided Iran's Fatal Attack on American Soldiers by Sharing Satellite Images of US Base
Iran was armed with Chinese satellite images before it launched an attack on a U.S. base that killed Americans, according to a new report.
The July 17 strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base left three Americans dead.
Prior to the attack, Iran got its hands on high-resolution satellite images of the base from Chinese entities, U.S. officials said, according to The Wall Street Journal. The outlet did not name its sources.
“It is the clearest evidence so far that Chinese support for Iran during the war has had lethal consequences for U.S. forces, according to the officials, who say the U.S. has connected the imagery to the attack,” the report said.
The U.S. officials did not identify the entities that gave Iran the images.
No direct involvement from the Chinese government was alleged.
The Wall Street Journal noted that not long after the attack, Iran published high-resolution images showing the damage its assault had done.
The outlet noted that the incident could have diplomatic ramifications.
“The finding could deepen U.S.-China tensions ahead of the planned summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sept. 24, after months of frustration with Beijing’s rejection of U.S. warnings about Chinese companies providing imagery to Iran,” the Journal wrote.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has accused China of propping up Iran since the war began.
“Over the past several decades, the China-Iran relationship has evolved from one of limited cooperation into a broad strategic partnership spanning economic, diplomatic, and security ties,” Chair Randy Schriver said.
Vice Chair Mike Kuiken noted that “as one of Iran’s most important partners, China plays a critical but often overlooked role in sustaining Iran’s defense industrial base and ability to destabilize the region.”
The Financial Times reported in April that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps acquired a Chinese TEE-01B spy satellite in September 2024 for about $36 million.
“Time-stamped coordinate lists, satellite imagery and orbital analysis show that Iranian military commanders later tasked the satellite to monitor key US military sites,” the article said, noting that its report covered images taken in March.
The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, where the attack took place, was among the sites Iran was watching in March.
“This satellite is clearly being used for military purposes, as it is being run by the IRGC’s Aerospace Force and not Iran’s civilian space program,” Nicole Grajewski, an expert on Iran at Sciences Po University, said.
“Iran really needs this foreign-provided capability during this war, as it allows the IRGC to identify targets ahead of time and check the success of its strikes,” she added.
A Chinese company called Emposat provides the IRGC with a network that can operate the satellite, which means the satellite can be controlled from outside of Iran.
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