Leaked documents show IRGC routed Chinese military equipment through UAE

Financial Times has obtained leaked commercial contracts and shipping documents showing that the aerospace division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used procurement networks based in the United Arab Emirates to acquire advanced satellite communications equipment from China.

The newspaper reported that the documents showed the IRGC obtaining Chinese military satellite communications technology through UAE-based companies in late 2025.

According to the FT, the records revealed that despite Western sanctions targeting Iran’s military procurement activities, the Revolutionary Guards continued to rely on commercial networks in the UAE to obtain strategic communications technology.

In 2006, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution backed by Western countries prohibiting shipments to Iran of nuclear technology, missile technology and dual-use goods.

The European Union began enforcing a full embargo in April 2007 covering the sale to Iran of all conventional weapons, military equipment and spare parts.

A June 2010 UN Security Council resolution further expanded the international ban on sales to Tehran of heavy weapons, including tanks, combat aircraft and missile systems.

UN restrictions on shipments of major weapons systems to Iran and all arms exports from Iran expired in October 2020. However, those restrictions were reinstated in September 2025.

The newspaper said that despite those measures, the UAE had become one of the region’s dominant trading hubs over the past two decades, while free trade zones operating under looser oversight in the emirates had long raised concerns about sanctions evasion involving Iran.

According to records reviewed by the newspaper, the equipment shipment was handled through the Ras Al Khaimah-based company Telesun. The Chinese-made satellite antenna equipment, weighing around 1.8 tonnes, was shipped from Shanghai to Iran through Dubai’s Jebel Ali port.

UAE records showed that Telesun organized the shipment from Shanghai to Iran’s Bandar Abbas port of a 4.5-meter motorized satellite antenna manufactured by the Chinese company StarWin.

A Chinese-flagged container ship arrived at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port on Aug. 28 last year and unloaded the container there. According to records included in the documents, the container was later collected on Nov. 23 by an Iranian vessel named Rama III.

The newspaper said Rama III transmitted false GPS signals during the operation showing the ship off the coast of Oman. It added that satellite imagery dated Nov. 25 showed the vessel in a different location, while on Nov. 29 a ship matching the same size and color characteristics was seen at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port. Shipping documents also listed the same port as the cargo’s destination.

The shipment, weighing approximately two tonnes, was described in the documents as “antenna and accessories.” According to the FT, the cargo was sent to the Iranian telecommunications company Ertebatat Faragostar Kish (EFK).

The newspaper reported that contract records showed EFK purchased the equipment through Telesun on behalf of Saman Industrial Group, which the US Treasury Department placed under sanctions in December 2023.

At the time, Washington said Saman Industrial Group functioned as a commercial front for an IRGC research unit involved in the development and production of ballistic missiles, electronic warfare systems and drones.

The newspaper noted that EFK itself is not subject to Western sanctions.

In another report published in mid-April, the Financial Times said Iran coordinated attacks on US military bases in the Middle East using data obtained from a Chinese reconnaissance satellite.

CNN also reported on April 11 that US intelligence possessed information indicating China was planning to supply Iran with new Chinese-made air defense systems, including shoulder-fired air defense weapons.

Despite such shadow shipments involving Iran, the FT noted that the UAE had also been among the countries most heavily affected by Iranian attacks.

According to the newspaper, Iran launched more than 2,800 drones and missiles at the UAE during the war. The attacks included strikes on civilian targets.

In another report published in March, the Financial Times described the UAE as the neighboring country subjected to the highest number of Iranian attacks.

The Wall Street Journal also reported in May, citing sources, that the UAE had conducted covert military strikes against Iran during the Middle East conflict.

Among the reported attacks was a strike in early April targeting Iran’s oil refinery on Lavan Island. UAE authorities did not publicly claim responsibility for the attack.