Report: Chinese entities gave Iran satellite images before deadly strike on US base

Chinese entities supplied Iran with high-quality satellite imagery of a US Air Force base in Jordan both before and after Tehran launched a deadly ballistic missile attack on the facility on July 17, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing US officials familiar with the matter.

The officials, who declined to identify the Chinese entities, said Washington had linked the satellite imagery to the strike, providing what they described as the clearest evidence yet that Chinese support for Tehran during the war had contributed to the deaths of US troops. They stopped short, however, of accusing Beijing of directly participating in the attack, according to the Journal.

Senior US officials reportedly brought up the imagery from the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base with their Chinese counterparts, but Beijing rejected the allegation and demanded that Washington provide evidence, the Journal cited its sources as saying.

A spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington told the newspaper that cooperation between Beijing and Tehran was consistent with international law and accused unnamed critics of “maliciously linking and smearing other countries.”

The spokesperson did not directly address the allegation that Chinese entities provided imagery connected to the July 17 strike, the Journal said.

Beijing has repeatedly refused to acknowledge that any Chinese firms have supplied Iran with satellite imagery to target US forces, according to the sources cited by the Journal.

The outlet added that the US findings could deepen China-US tensions ahead of the planned September 24 White House summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Iran’s ballistic missile attack on the base killed three US troops and wounded four others.

The three service members killed were identified as First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas and Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York.

Their deaths were the first US military fatalities of the Iran war since an April ceasefire and marked a major escalation in the conflict. The strike came as Washington and Tehran had both suspended a June interim agreement.

Evidence that Tehran was drawing on Chinese technology during the conflict had emerged months before the deadly strike. The Financial Times reported in April that Iran was using a Chinese-built and -launched spy satellite purchased by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force from Earth Eye Co. in late 2024.

Muwaffaq Salti Air Base was targeted again by Iran on Thursday, in a strike that reportedly damaged several US aircraft, though Trump denied that any planes sustained damage.