A US special operations unit last month boarded a vessel in the Indian Ocean and seized military-related items bound for Iran from China in a rare at-sea interdiction, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing US officials.
The US operatives boarded the ship when it was several hundred miles off the coast of Sri Lanka and confiscated the cargo before letting the vessel proceed, the report added.
Washington had been tracking the shipment, according to officials speaking to the Wall Street Journal.
This was the first time in recent years the US military is known to have intercepted an Iran-bound cargo with Chinese origins.
Last month, two Democratic members of the United States Congress urged the Secretary of State and CIA Director to investigate a large shipment of missile propellant precursor material from China to Iran.
Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi and Joe Courtney sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, calling for a probe into Chinese firms' delivery of 2,000 tons of sodium perchlorate - a critical ingredient in making ballistic missile propellant - to Iran since late September in violation of UN sanctions.
The chemical shipped via 10 to 12 vessels to Bandar Abbas port, could fuel up to 500 mid-range missiles, accelerating Tehran's arsenal rebuild after a 12-day war with Israel in June, the congressmen said based on report previously appeared on CNN.
The letter said the shipments contravene September's reinstated UN sanctions prohibiting support for Iran's ballistic missile program and nuclear delivery systems.
“Beijing's aid enables Tehran's post-war rearmament efforts despite US efforts to deter such transfers,” the lawmakers said.
In April the US Treasury sanctioned several Iranian and Chinese entities for facilitating transfers of sodium perchlorate and similar chemical precursors to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for ballistic missile production.
However, the two lawmakers said that “April Treasury sanctions on Iranian and Chinese entities failed to halt the flow, as shipments continued unabated with another 1,000 tons delivered in June.”
Iran has rejected reported US demands that it curb the range of its missiles to achieve any peace deal, calling the requests a non-starter which curbs its defense.
