Two Iranian cargo ships departed a chemical storage port in southeast China earlier this week. The ships were heading towards Iran, the Washington Post reported, citing ship tracking data and satellite imagery.
The two vessels are reportedly operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL). The state-owned carrier is under sanctions by the US, Britain, and the European Union.
The vessels, the Shabdis and Barzin, were recently docked at China’s Southeastern coast’s Gaolan Port in Zhuhai, which experts say handles large volumes of industrial chemicals. One of the chemicals found at the port is sodium perchlorate, which is used to produce solid rocket fuel.
Experts said that it would be notable if China allowed any ship laden with weapons-related material to set off from its ports, as they expected China to be wary of such actions during a period when there is direct combat between the US and Iran.
Isaac Kardon, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that Beijing could have delayed the ship's departure. “China could have held these vessels at port, imposed an administrative delay, invented a customs hold – any number of bureaucratic tools, but didn’t,” he said.
“That’s a deliberate policy choice made during an active war in which Beijing publicly calls for restraint,” he said.
On Saturday, both vessels were spotted on the South China Sea, with the Barzin anchored off the coast of Malaysia and en route to Badddar Abbas. The Shabadis are headed towards Iran’s Chabahar. Both the destinations lie in the Strait of Hormuz.
Since the beginning of the year, the IRISL vessels visited Gaolan port and departed carrying cargo. Some of the ships later unloaded at the Iran’s Shahid Rajee port in Bandar Abbas.
Analysts said that the damages sustained after US and Israeli strikes targeted Iranian missile facilities and infrastructure may have increased the the country’s need for rocket fuel components.