As direct conflict between the United States and Iran intensifies, Reuters reports that Tehran is preparing to receive its first shipment of Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense systems within weeks.
People familiar with the matter said Tehran has signed a procurement contract worth between $60 million and $70 million to urgently obtain 300 to 400 man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS. The main models reportedly include China’s advanced QW-12 and FN-16 surface-to-air missiles.
Details of the secret contract indicate that it was signed through a Hong Kong-registered shell company, Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment, which acted as a key intermediary between the Iranian military and Chinese Communist Party-linked weapons suppliers.
Under the current transportation plan, the air-defense systems would initially be flown from Urumqi in western China, transit through Pakistan, and then be covertly delivered to Iran by land or air.
Trump has repeatedly warned Iran against further attacks on U.S. forces and said any retaliation would be met with overwhelming force. After Reuters reported that China planned to supply Iran with portable air-defense systems, Trump said he would be “very disappointed” if Beijing provided military assistance after Xi Jinping had assured him otherwise.
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War exposes gaps in Iran’s low-altitude defenses
Sources said that although China and Iran had been negotiating the missile purchase for nearly two years, recent battlefield developments ultimately pushed Tehran to finalize and accelerate the contract.
During recent intensive precision strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces inside Iran, the country’s newly deployed air-defense network reportedly suffered severe damage from U.S. electronic warfare and precision airstrikes. It failed to effectively protect key missile bases, drone storage facilities and critical energy infrastructure.
The attacks exposed serious gaps in Tehran’s defenses against low-flying stealth drones, armed helicopters and cruise missiles.
The QW-12 and FN-16 systems were designed to address these vulnerabilities.
The FN-16, regarded as one of China’s most advanced man-portable air-defense weapons, uses a dual-band infrared and ultraviolet seeker and is highly resistant to infrared decoys.
The QW-12 is equipped with an advanced imaging infrared, or IIR, seeker. It has strong resistance to electronic interference and is capable of intercepting low-flying cruise missiles, helicopters and various types of drones at ranges of up to six kilometers.
The introduction of these systems could provide a final layer of protection for Iran’s dispersed ballistic missile positions and underground nuclear facilities.
Four decades of Chinese-Iranian military transfers
The secret missile agreement is the latest development in a four-decade history of military cooperation and arms transfers between China and Iran.
Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the subsequent outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, Tehran, facing comprehensive Western embargoes, has regarded Beijing as an important source of military equipment and technology.
During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Chinese state-owned defense companies began exporting large quantities of weapons to the Middle East as China introduced market-oriented reforms within its domestic arms industry. Iran was one of the largest purchasers.
During that period, China supplied Iran with large numbers of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems and fighter aircraft. Among the best-known weapons were HY-2 anti-ship cruise missiles, known to the U.S. military as Silkworm missiles.
In 1987, Iran used Silkworm missiles in the Persian Gulf and Kuwaiti waters to attack U.S.-flagged and U.S.-owned oil tankers, directly contributing to a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran in the Gulf.
In response, the Reagan administration imposed restrictions on high-technology exports to China, pressuring Beijing to promise that it would prevent additional Silkworm missiles from reaching Iran.
After the Iran-Iraq War, military cooperation between China and Iran shifted from the sale of complete weapons systems toward deeper technology transfers and domestic production.
In the 1990s, China transferred advanced YJ-82, also known as C-802, anti-ship missile technology to Iran.
With Chinese technological support, Iran established its own anti-ship missile industry and developed the Noor and Qader families of missiles.
During the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah used an Iranian-supplied Noor anti-ship missile derived from Chinese C-802 technology to severely damage the Israeli Navy corvette INS Hanit.
Iran’s Misagh missiles derived from China’s QW series
Iran’s reported purchase of QW-12 and FN-16 systems also has historical technological roots.
As early as the late 20th century, China exported early-model QW-1 and QW-2 portable air-defense missiles to Iran.
Iran subsequently reverse-engineered and produced localized versions of the systems, developing the Misagh-1, Misagh-2 and Misagh-3 man-portable air-defense missiles.
These weapons were deployed in large numbers by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and were also supplied to Yemen’s Houthi forces, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Syria.
They became an important component of the so-called Axis of Resistance’s defenses against Western air power.
Dual-use technology and intelligence support
Although publicly acknowledged conventional weapons sales between China and Iran declined after the mid-2000s and the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 in 2015, Beijing’s support for Tehran reportedly shifted into a more concealed gray zone.
Reuters has reported that foreign-made components have been recovered from Shahed-136 drones used in Ukraine. U.S. authorities have also sanctioned China- and Hong Kong-based networks accused of supplying servomotors and other dual-use components to Iran’s drone industry.
Reuters has previously reported that Chinese companies were accused of supplying Iran with large quantities of chemical precursors used to manufacture solid fuel for ballistic missiles. The materials were allegedly intended to support Iran’s efforts to replenish its missile stockpiles.
Vision Times reported that Chinese companies have used commercial satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to track U.S. aircraft carriers, military aircraft and other assets operating in the Middle East. Analysts said the information could provide Tehran with near-real-time battlefield intelligence and amount to indirect Chinese support for Iran, although there has been no public confirmation that Iran used the data to conduct strikes.
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