China Aids Iran’s War Effort, Raising Costs for America

China is increasing intelligence sharing and defense-related transfers with Iran, helping the Islamist regime better target and strike American forces, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute wrote on April 22. The growing support undercuts United States and Israeli objectives in the conflict and gives Iran greater military and diplomatic leverage.

China has provided Iran with a commercial reconnaissance satellite and access to Chinese satellite data, including imagery enhanced with AI tagging of U.S. military sites. Taken together, these capabilities have materially strengthened Iran’s intelligence picture and improved the precision with which it can target American assets.

Beyond space-based intelligence, China has also supported Iran’s broader military capacity. This includes assistance to Iran’s drone program, as well as the supply of chemical precursors—such as sodium perchlorate—used in the production of solid-fuel ballistic missiles. The quantity of a Chinese shipment to Iran in early April was “enough for hundreds of ballistic missiles,” the Australian Strategic Policy Institute wrote.

There are also indications that China is planning to deliver shoulder-fired air-defense systems and CM-302 antiship cruise missiles to Iran in the near future.

U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed the significance of China’s assistance on Sunday. “I don’t think [China is helping Iran] much,” he said in an interview with Fox News. “They could help a lot more. I’m not overly disappointed.”

China’s support for Iran is far from insignificant, and it mirrors the support Russia has also given the Islamic Republic. The backing from these two Asian giants has not been enough to change Iran’s military position, but it does make the regime more resilient. It helps Iran remain highly dangerous despite being weakened. The backing also strengthens Iran’s bargaining position, allowing the nation to avoid having to negotiate from a position of acute weakness, which is significant in light of the current ceasefire.

“A decisive factor in the future of this contest will be Iran’s ability to resupply and reconstitute its own military capabilities,” said Grant Rumley, a senior fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and director of its program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East. “Tehran’s backers [China and Russia] are willing to provide some level of support to keep the regime in power.”

This backing from China and Russia complicates U.S. strategy because it means Iran is not isolated. It is backed by two of the world’s most powerful militaries. That makes Iran harder to degrade over the long term and means the cost of trying to fully neutralize it—were the U.S. to muster the will for such an attempt—would be significantly higher.

As this ceasefire continues, we can be confident that whatever unfolds—and whether because of Chinese and Russian backing or other factors—the war will not end with the destruction of Iran’s current regime. We can be sure about this because of biblical prophecy.

As senior editor Joel Hilliker wrote at the war’s outset:

It is unclear exactly how this situation will play out. Often events take turns very different from what we expect. But biblical prophecy is clear about the outcome. [A]s much as one may wish to see the demise of this violent, oppressive regime, somehow Iran is going to preserve its considerable power—as well as its extremist temperament and aspirations.

To understand the details of these prophecies, read “Is Iran’s Regime Finished?”