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It was a rare operation aimed at preventing Tehran from rebuilding its military arsenal.
Last month, U.S. forces boarded a vessel in the Indian Ocean and seized a military cargo bound for Iran from China, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials.
The ship was near the coast of Sri Lanka when American operatives boarded it, confiscated the cargo and then allowed the vessel to continue its journey. The shipment had been under U.S. surveillance.
The previously undisclosed operation was part of Pentagon efforts to disrupt Tehran’s covert military procurement following significant damage to Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities by Israeli and U.S. strikes in June.
According to one official, the cargo consisted of components that could potentially be used for Iran’s conventional weapons arsenal. The seized materials were later destroyed. The shipment included dual-use components that can serve both civilian and military purposes.
U.S. intelligence indicated the cargo was destined for Iranian companies involved in acquiring components for the country’s missile program. A U.S. official said the operation involved both special operations forces and conventional military units.
Iranian officials have said they are doubling efforts to rebuild the country’s ballistic missile arsenal amid fears of renewed confrontation with Israel. Talks with the United States on Iran’s nuclear program have not resumed since being halted by the bombing campaign.
The rare seizure of military technology intended for Iran followed the reimposition of an international arms embargo by the United Nations in late September.
In recent years, the United States has seized several shipments of Iranian weapons and oil. In January 2024, U.S. Central Command confiscated Iranian-made ballistic and cruise missile components bound for Houthi militants in Yemen near the coast of Somalia. The U.S. also seized Iranian oil shipments in 2020 and 2023, saying the proceeds benefited Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
China’s sale of products suspected of being used in Iran’s missile program has come under increased scrutiny in Washington. Last month, two Democratic members of Congress urged U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe to investigate a large shipment of chemicals from China to Iran that could potentially be used in missile fuel.
“Beijing’s recent shipments of these critical chemicals suggest that U.S. actions to date have failed to deter it from supporting Tehran’s acquisition of offensive military capabilities,” Democratic lawmakers Raja Krishnamoorthi and Joe Courtney wrote in a Nov. 13 letter. “China appears increasingly willing to assist Tehran’s rearmament campaign with impunity.”
Two Iranian vessels recently departed China carrying tons of sodium perchlorate, a key ingredient in solid fuel for ballistic missiles. In April, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on several Iranian and Chinese entities for facilitating the transfer of missile-related chemicals to Iran.
China has long been a diplomatic and economic ally of Tehran, importing Iranian crude oil and condemning U.S. sanctions as illegal. It remains unclear whether the Chinese government is aware of shipments linked to Iran’s missile program, which are often carried out by Iranian-controlled ships and companies.
“By remaining a permissive jurisdiction for the export of illicit technologies, China is enabling Iran’s ballistic missile program,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
According to Ben Taleblu, Chinese companies often supply dual-use technologies that improve the accuracy of Iranian missiles, such as spectrometers, gyroscopes and other measurement devices. “That is far more dangerous than chemicals,” he said.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which conducted the operation, declined to comment. Iranian officials and China’s foreign ministry did not respond to WSJ requests for comment.
This was the first known case in recent years of U.S. forces intercepting China-origin cargo bound for Iran. The operation took place weeks before U.S. authorities seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday, Dec. 10, highlighting the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive maritime tactics against U.S. adversaries.
