Iran is intensifying efforts to restore its ballistic missile program, despite the United Nations reimposing sanctions last month that prohibit arms sales to the Islamic Republic and ban any ballistic missile-related activity, CNN reported Monday.
According to European intelligence sources cited in the report, several shipments of sodium perchlorate, a key compound in the production of solid fuel used to power Iran's conventional medium-range missiles, have arrived at Iran's Bandar Abbas port from China since the UN's "snapback" sanctions mechanism was triggered at the end of September.
These sources said the shipments, which began arriving on September 29, contain 2,000 tons of sodium perchlorate purchased by Iran from Chinese suppliers. The acquisition follows the extensive damage Iran's missile infrastructure suffered during the Gaza War, and appears to be part of a determined effort to replenish its depleted missile stockpiles. Some of the Chinese shipping companies and entities involved are already under US sanctions.
The deliveries come in the wake of the reactivation of longstanding UN sanctions under the snapback mechanism, triggered by Iranian violations of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement.
Under the renewed sanctions imposed on Tehran last month, Iran is banned from conducting any activities related to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. UN member states are also obligated to prevent the supply of materials to Iran that could aid the development of nuclear-capable missile delivery systems—materials which, experts say, may include ballistic missiles.
