US intelligence detects signs China is weighing giving Iran advance radar systems
Washington — Days after the US-Israel led struggle with Iran kicked off final month, American intelligence companies detected signs that the struggle risked widening past the rapid battlefield as Russia and China sought to assist Iran to blunt US-Israeli army operations.
Analysts on the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s arm for army intelligence, assessed that China was weighing whether or not to offer Tehran with superior radar systems, in keeping with a number of US officers conversant in the matter. The deliberations got here amid separate stories that Russia had shared intelligence with Iran on American army positions throughout the Middle East.
While Moscow’s transfer of information to Tehran has been beforehand reported by CBS News, China’s obvious willingness — early within the battle and probably over a protracted timeline — to help Iran factors to a broader, if casual, alignment amongst powers searching for to counterbalance US ambitions within the area.
US officers, who spoke to CBS News on the situation of anonymity to debate nationwide safety points, mentioned Beijing had thought of supplying Iran with X-band radar systems. This expertise would considerably improve Iran’s capacity to detect and monitor incoming threats, like low-flying drones and cruise missiles, and will assist defend its air protection systems towards superior strikes.
It stays unclear whether or not China finally moved ahead with the switch however the evaluation underscores Washington’s concern that the Iranian struggle is drawing on not solely regional adversaries but additionally international rivals prepared to offer crucial assist, wanting direct army involvement, the officers mentioned.
The Defense Intelligence Agency has not responded to a request for remark. The Central Intelligence Agency declined to remark. The White House has not responded to a request for remark.
On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used a spy satellite tv for pc it secretly purchased from Chinese firm Earth Eye Co., to focus on US bases within the Middle East, citing leaked Iranian army paperwork.
US intelligence assessments point out that Tehran has beforehand used satellite tv for pc imagery supplied by China, together with through the ongoing battle involving Israel and US forces, two US officers conversant in the matter mentioned. The officers couldn’t verify whether or not the imagery was provided by Earth Eye Co.
To Pentagon report on China’s army launched in December mentioned that as of 2024, industrial satellite tv for pc corporations primarily based in China had participated in enterprise exchanges with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The 2026 Annual Threat Assessment — an unclassified survey of world safety dangers compiled by the intelligence neighborhood — warned that China is far outpacing different nations in its growth of space-based capabilities.
“China has eclipsed Russia as the key US competitor in space. Beijing’s rapid deployment of space capabilities positions it to use space to advance its foreign policy goals, challenge US military and technological superiority in space, and project power on a global scale,” the report he mentioned.
US intelligence additionally signifies Beijing has weighed transferring air protection systems to Iran, probably routed via third international locations to obscure direct involvement, the 2 officers mentioned. cnn reported final week that the intelligence neighborhood had discovered that China was making ready to ship shoulder-fired anti-air missile systems often called MANPADs to Iran.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, characterised the stories that China could also be offering Iran with new air protection systems as “significant.”
“They try to hide themselves. China says, well, this is their private sector. We all know there is no such thing as a true private sector in China. Every company in China has to have its first loyalty to the Communist Party,” Warner said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, when requested Thursday concerning the intelligence assessments, mentioned, “President Trump has a very strong and direct relationship with President Xi, and they’ve communicated on that, and China has assured us that that indeed is not going to happen.”
Mr. Trump is anticipated to go to China subsequent month in a high-stakes summit pushed by a number of overlapping crises and strategic pursuits. Mr. Trump mentioned he despatched a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping asking him to not give Iran weapons in an interview that aired Wednesday on the Fox Business Network. Mr. Trump didn’t say when the letters had been exchanged.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, declined to deal with questions concerning the letters referenced by Mr. Trump, including that China’s place on Iran is “open and aboveboard.”
“We uphold an objective and impartial stance and have made efforts to promote peace talks,” spokesperson Liu Pengyu mentioned in an announcement. “We never engage in actions that escalate conflicts.”
Last week, Mr. Trump threatened international locations with a right away 50% tariff in the event that they provided Iran with weapons. China’s overseas ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun mentioned on Wednesday media stories of Beijing supplying Tehran with weapons had been “purely manufactured,” and cautioned that any tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on that foundation could be met with countermeasures.
