The container ship Golbon has delivered to Iran the first batch of Chinese raw materials for the production of rocket fuel for solid-fuel ballistic missiles.

CNN reported on this, based on satellite intelligence data.

The first of two container ships carrying potassium perchlorate from China has reached the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The Golbon vessel left the Chinese port of Taicang three weeks ago, loaded with most of the 1,000-ton shipment. The final part of the shipment is to arrive on the Jairan vessel, which is still in China.

Its customer, according to the publication, is the Jihad Organization for Research and Self-Sufficiency of the Aerospace Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Potassium perchlorate is a raw material for the production of ammonium perchlorate, which is the main component in the production of rocket fuel for solid-fuel ballistic missile engines.

According to the publication’s intelligence sources, this amount of potassium perchlorate is enough to produce enough fuel to equip 260 engines for Iranian Kheibar Shekan ballistic missiles or 200 Haj Qasem ballistic missiles.

The supply of raw materials took place after Israel struck Iran’s solid-fuel rocket engine production facilities in Parchin and Khojir in December 2024. They were reported to be of strategic importance to Iran’s missile program.

According to Israeli intelligence, specialized mixers, which are very sophisticated equipment, were located on the territory of the facilities. Iran did not manufacture them on its own, but bought them in China.

The arrival of a large batch of raw materials for the production of rocket fuel may be a signal that missile production in Iran is returning to normal.

Iran’s missile arsenal

The aforementioned Kheibar Shekan and Haj Qasem solid-fuel missiles are medium-range ballistic missiles with a range of up to 1400 kilometers.

In addition to them, the Iranian defense industry also produces Fateh-360 tactical ballistic missiles with a maximum range of 180 km and larger Fateh-450 with a range of up to 250 km.

This month, Militarnyi reported that Iran was developing a nuclear warhead with a range of 3,000 kilometers based on designs transferred to the Islamic regime by North Korea.