2 Ships Loaded With Missile Propellant Ingredient To Sail From China To Iran

Two Iranian cargo ships, Golbon and Jairan, are reportedly transporting over 1,000 tonnes of sodium perchlorate, a chemical used to produce missile propellant, from China to Iran.

The information was provided by security officials in two Western countries.

Sodium perchlorate is a key ingredient in making ammonium perchlorate, the main component for solid-fuel missile propellant.

According to officials, this shipment could produce 960 tonnes of ammonium perchlorate, which accounts for 70% of the propellant used in solid-fuel missiles. This quantity could fuel up to 260 mid-range missiles, like Iran’s Kheibar Shekan and Haj Qassem missiles.

Ammonium perchlorate is controlled under the Missile Technology Control Regime, an international anti-proliferation body. The Golbon departed from the Chinese island of Daishan on Tuesday, carrying 34 containers of sodium perchlorate.

The Jairan is expected to leave in early February with 22 containers. Both ships, owned …

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