Iran secretly acquired a Chinese spy satellite, giving the Islamic Republic a new ability to attack US military bases throughout the Middle East during the recent war, now in a precarious armistice, the newspaper reported. Financial Times this morning
The TEE-01B satellite, built and launched by Chinese company Earth Eye Co., was acquired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force in late 2024 following its launch from China, according to the report, which cites leaked Iranian military documents.
Iranian military commanders ordered the satellite to monitor important US military sites, the newspaper said, citing lists of time-stamped coordinates, satellite images and orbital analysis. The images were taken in March, before and after the drone and missile attacks against those locations, according to the FT.
The White House, the CIA, the Pentagon, China’s foreign and defense ministries, Earth Eye Co. and Emposat did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters seeking to know whether the newspaper’s information is accurate.
Guarded…and beaten
As part of the deal, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) gained access to commercial ground stations operated by Emposat, a satellite data and monitoring services provider based in Beijing with a network spanning Asia, Latin America and other regions, according to the report.
The satellite captured images of the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 13, 14 and 15, the Financial Times.
On March 14, US President Donald Trump confirmed that US aircraft at the base had been hit.
According to the report, the satellite also monitored the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and locations near the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Manama, Bahrain, and the airport in Erbil, Iraq, around the date of the IRGC-claimed attacks on facilities in those areas.
US intelligence has repeatedly indicated that Chinese companies could be supplying components for Tehran’s military production, including sodium perchlorate for solid-fuel rockets.
Beijing’s role
China has been acting for decades as the theocratic regime’s main economic lifeline and strategic ally, buying 80% of its oil and providing critical components for its rockets.
Beijing, in the face of Operation Epic Fury, has adopted a dual stance: it seeks to position itself as a diplomatic mediator while strategically benefiting from the erosion of the United States, consolidating its influence in the region. In addition, it is already positioning itself to rebuild regional infrastructure after the conflict.
Despite everything, its power is such that it has been claimed as a promoter of lasting peace, for example, by the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez. “It seems very difficult for me to find other interlocutors,” he said yesterday, after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping on the ground.
