Iran obtained high-resolution satellite imagery of a US base in Jordan from Chinese sources before launching the missile attack that killed three American soldiers in July, according to a Friday report by The Wall Street Journal, which cited US officials familiar with the matter.
The WSJ reported that Washington has drawn a direct line between the Chinese-sourced imagery and the July 17 strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, but did not confirm direct involvement from the Chinese government.
The officials told the WSJ that Iran acquired the images both ahead of and following the assault, though they would not name the Chinese firms involved and stopped short of accusing Beijing's government of direct involvement.
According to the WSJ report, Iranian ballistic missiles slammed into a housing area at the base in northeastern Jordan where US troops were sleeping, killing three soldiers and wounding four others who were evacuated for treatment.
The strike was one of three missile attacks on the base within a 24-hour span and represented the first American combat deaths since an April ceasefire.
The WSJ noted that within days of the attack, Iran published high-resolution images documenting damage across three sections of the base, visuals more detailed than the lower-resolution commercial satellite imagery WSJ's own analysis had reviewed, which showed harm to more than 20 structures.
Diplomatic tensions ahead of Trump-Xi summit
The disclosure comes weeks before a planned September 24 meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Citing officials, the paper said senior US figures had raised the imagery findings directly with Chinese counterparts, who demanded evidence and rejected the allegations.
US officials told the WSJ that Beijing has denied that Chinese companies supply such material to Iran.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Chang, did not directly address the specific claims but accused unnamed parties of "maliciously linking and smearing other countries," the WSJ reported.
A White House official, responding to the WSJ, said no outside assistance had improved Iran's ability to strike US targets, without directly addressing the imagery findings.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asked days after the attack whether China was feeding Iran targeting data, declined to answer directly and said Beijing's actions had not altered the conflict's course.
Pattern of improving accuracy
The WSJ cited analysts and former officials as saying the satellite imagery was likely just one of several intelligence sources feeding Iranian targeting, alongside Tehran's own satellites, human intelligence and support from Russia.
Early in the war, US strikes on Iranian radar and satellite systems had degraded Iranian battlefield awareness, and Iranian strikes often missed militarily significant targets. But officials cited by the WSJ said that Iranian targeting accuracy appeared to improve over the summer.
A former CIA analyst specializing in Iran’s military, Jim Lamson, told the WSJ that updated high-resolution imagery could help Iran identify high-value targets more precisely and assess strike damage.
The Trump administration already sanctioned three Chinese companies in May, MizarVision, Earth Eye, and Chang Guang, over allegations that they provided or published satellite imagery usable by Iran against US forces.
The State Department had previously accused Chang Guang of supplying imagery that supported attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia.
The administration has briefed congressional intelligence committees in recent weeks on both Chinese and Russian support for Iran.