Iran secretly acquired a Chinese spy satellite in late 2024 that allowed it to target US military bases across the Middle East during the recent war, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
The TEE-01B satellite, built and launched by Chinese company Earth Eye Co (北京沐美星空科技), was acquired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Aerospace Force after it was launched into space from China, the report said, citing leaked Iranian military documents.
Iranian military commanders directed the satellite to monitor major US military sites, the newspaper said, citing time-stamped coordinate lists, satellite imagery and orbital analyses.
Photo: Reuters
The images were taken in March before and after drone and missile strikes on the locations, the Financial Times said.
As part of the deal, the IRGC received access to commercial ground stations operated by Emposat, a Beijing-based provider of satellite control and data services with a network extending across Asia, Latin America and other regions, the report said.
Reuters could not verify the report.
Photo: AFP / NASA
The White House, the CIA and the Pentagon, as well as the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense and its embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.
Earth Eye Co and Emposat also did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters.
The Financial Times reported that the White House did not comment on the relationship between Emposat and the IRGC, but a spokesperson referred to comments US President Donald Trump made at the weekend when he warned that China would face “big problems” if it provided Iran with air defense systems.
The Chinese embassy in Washington told the Financial Times: “We firmly oppose relevant parties spreading speculative and insinuative disinformation against China.”
The satellite captured images of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 13, 14 and 15, the report said.
On March 14, Trump confirmed that US planes at the base had been hit.
According to the report, the satellite also monitored the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and locations close to the US Navy Fifth Fleet base in Manama, Bahrain, and Erbil airport in Iraq at about the time of IRGC-claimed attacks on facilities in those areas.
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