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Communist China is continuing to provide key missile and nucleartechnologies to Iran, despite explicit promises to curtail suchcooperation, senior U.S. officials tracking the trade told The IranBrief publisher Kenneth R. Timmerman.
Transfers of missile guidance components and telemetry equipmentto Iran were "ongoing," the officials said.
China's cooperation with Iranian missile and nuclear projects hasbeen more selective than its cooperation with Pakistan, the officialssaid. "They are aiding in areas like missile guidance, solidpropellants, and telemetry. The Chinese have been less open onparticular systems, and more willing to assist with broadertechnologies," for fear of getting caught by the U.S. and hit withU.S. sanctions.
The officials confirmed reports, first surfaced in the WashingtonTimes last month, that China has agreed to supply Iran with telemetryequipment to monitor missile test flights. A top secret intelligencereport, dated May 27, reported that Iranian officials from theDefense Industries Organization's Missile Industries Group (alsoknown as Department 140, or the Sanam Industries Group) traveled toChina earlier in May to finalize a contract with China Great WallIndustries Corp. to purchase an entire "telemetry infrastructure" fortest flights of Iran's Shahab-3 and Shahab-4 series of missiles,scheduled to begin next year. China Great Wall is the manufacturer ofthe Long March space launch vehicles, as well as China's ballisticmissiles, and has twice been banned from doing business with the U.S.government because of ballistic missile sales to Pakistan.
And Iran's DIO continues to purchase accelerometers, gyroscopes,and test equipment from the China Precision Engineering Import ExportCompany for the Shahab-3 missile, the officials said.
Transfers of solid rocket fuel, propellants, test equipment, andmixers were also continuing, the officials said, despite repeatedU.S. protests. Iran is developing a series of solid-fuel ICBMs withRussian and Chinese help, far more advanced than the Shahab series,U.S. and Israeli intelligence sources say. If successful, thesemissiles will be able to reach targets in the continental UnitedStates.
Gordon Oehler, the former director of the CIA's NonproliferationCenter, told The Iran Brief that Iran was using a short-range missilesystem, the NP-110, as a cover for many of these purchases.
"The NP-110 project is for a 170 kilometer ballistic missile,which is not prohibited under the MTCR," Oehler said. "So thisprovides a lot of cover, and the Chinese are using that to shipproduction equipment to make solid fuel boosters." Iran is alsoseeking to purchase special X-ray equipment used to inspect solidrocket boosters under cover of the NP-110 project.
So far, the U.S. has not imposed sanctions on Chinese entities forthe transfer of missile production equipment to Iran, despite aflurry of intelligence reports over more than a decade. The transferof guidance equipment is prohibited under the Missile TechnologyControl Regime, and is considered a Category 2 violation.
In response to Category 2 sanctions imposed by the U.S. in 1993for the sale of guidance components to Pakistan, China promised toabide by the MTCR guidelines in the future. According to former andcurrent U.S. intelligence officials, China has consistently brokenthis promise. "Every statement on proliferation the Chinese have madehas been false, and every agreement has been violated," said GordonOehler.
Responding almost immediately after the White House announced thatPresident Clinton had vetoed the Iran Missile Proliferation SanctionsAct, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D,CA) pointedly warned the Presidentthat Congress would override his veto and that China could besanctioned under the act. "Despite what this Administration callsprogress in halting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,the proliferation continues," Pelosi said.
Nuclear cooperation: A team of Iranian nuclear expertsvisited China in June, ostensibly "to discuss nuclear cooperation forpeaceful purposes with China," the English-language Tehran Timesreported.
If confirmed, this would directly contradict assurances given byChina to the U.S. during the October 1997 Washington, DC summit thatChina would enter "no new nuclear contracts" with Iran.
Chinese president Jiang Zemin signed a written pledge inWashington to curtail any new nuclear contracts with Iran, and tocease all but two projects then underway: the construction of auranium conversion plant, and the completion of a plant tomanufacture zirconium cladding for nuclear fuel rods (Cf. "Chinabacks off from Iran - maybe," TIB 11/10/97.).
Subsequent to that report, a top National Security Councilofficial, speaking to The Iran Brief, said China had specificallypledged not to complete the uranium conversion plant. The Chinesepledge of no nuclear cooperation "includes suspended projects such asthe nuclear power plants, and the nuclear fuel plant," the officialsaid. "To resume these projects would be a clear violation of theircommitment to us." ("Chinese pledges fail to convince," TIB 2/2/98).The official had a different list of two projects "grandfathered" bythe agreement "the zero power reactor, which is nearly finished, andthe Zirconium 2 facility, which will take one or two years tocomplete. Clearly, they are not allowed to supply anything else toIran," he said. "These two projects are the only ones allowed underthe agreement."
But last month, U.S. intelligence officials contradicted theseearlier reports. While acknowledging that the Chinese government was"cutting back cooperation that had been going on," the officials saidthere were indications that the Iranians "are seeking entities inChina they can develop a relationship with" for the supply of nucleartechnologies.