Iran has taken delivery of Chinese surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems as Tehran rapidly works to rebuild its defenses destroyed during the recent 12-day conflict with Israel.
Deliveries of the Chinese SAM systems took place after a kind of truce was reached between Iran and Israel on June 24th, an Arab official familiar with intelligence information said.
Another Arab official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information, said that Arab allies of the United States (U.S.) are aware of Iran’s efforts to “strengthen and secure” its air defense, and that the White House has been informed of Iran’s progress in that regard.
Officials did not specify how many missile systems the country received from China after the end of the fighting. However, one of the sources stated that Iran is paying for those systems with oil. China is the largest importer of Iranian oil, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) stated in a May report that nearly 90 percent of Iranian crude oil and condensate exports go to Beijing.
For years now, China has been importing record amounts of Iranian oil despite U.S. sanctions, using countries like Malaysia as transit points to conceal the oil’s origin.
“The Iranians use creative trading methods,” said the second Arab official.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to discuss Iran and its nuclear program on Monday. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Deepening relations
These deliveries mark a deepening of relations between Beijing and Tehran, at a time when some in the West noted that China and Russia had somewhat distanced themselves from Iran during the unprecedented Israeli attacks.
During the conflict, Israel achieved air superiority over Iranian skies, destroying ballistic missile launch platforms and carrying out assassinations of Iranian generals and scientists. Despite that, the Iranian government endured the attacks and continued launching ballistic missiles at Israel, destroying several sensitive targets in Tel Aviv and Haifa before the truce was reached.
In the late 1980s, during the war with Iraq, Iran received HY-2 Silkworm cruise missiles from China via North Korea. The Islamic Republic used them in attacks on Kuwait and in the attack on a U.S. tanker during the so-called “tanker wars.”
In 2010, reports emerged that Iran had received Chinese HQ-9 SAM. It is believed that Iran uses the Russian S-300 system, capable of destroying aircraft and drones and offering limited defense against cruise and ballistic missiles, along with older-generation Chinese systems and domestic systems such as the Khordad series and Bavar-373.
These systems have limited capability to shoot down U.S. F-35 stealth aircraft, which are used by the Israeli military.
China already sells its HQ-9 and HQ-16 air defense systems to Pakistan, and according to reports, Egypt also possesses the HQ-9 system, Klix.ba writes.
