Donald Trump’s desperate attempt to woo Chinese President Xi Jinping has been rocked by more damning revelations about Beijing’s assistance to Iran during the war.
An American intelligence assessment leaked to CNN suggests that Chinese groups have been providing Tehran with satellite imagery and intelligence support that has helped it improve its attacks.
Thanks to help and data from China, Iran has been able to more precisely track target ships in the Strait of Hormuz shipping route, as well as hit U.S. military bases in the Middle East, including a July attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members.
“There’s a reason that their targeting has improved, and it is due to some assistance,” a source told CNN. “Getting reps on the battlefield helps, but getting a helping hand helps a lot too.”
It comes just a day after the Wall Street Journal revealed that there had been around 1,300 shipments of dual-use components from China to Iran that can be used in drones and missiles during the first half of this year.
“Without the Chinese parts they wouldn’t be as likely to keep fighting, it is as basic as that,” a U.S. official told CNN.
The timing of the reports will be particularly embarrassing to Trump, 80, as he tries to get on Xi’s good side during the Chinese leader’s visit to the U.S. for crunch talks.
This includes rolling out the red carpet for the communist dictator as he landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday, with Trump taking the almost unprecedented step of greeting Xi, 73, immediately after he landed at the military base.
Trump also hosted him for a lavish state dinner at the White House attended by top Cabinet officials, key figures from the tech industry and other MAGA names.
U.S. officials were keen to stress to CNN that it is unclear whether Beijing is directly ordering groups to assist Iran during the war or simply allowing it to happen. Russia has also been assisting Iran in the war, which has dragged on for nearly seven months with no end in sight.
Iran has rapidly improved its technical ability to strike precise targets as the conflict continues, including taking out MQ-9 Reaper drones “left and right,” a source familiar with the intelligence assessment said.
Earlier this month, a report from the Defense Department’s inspector general found that the Middle East conflict had cost the U.S. an estimated $33.4 billion between Feb. 28 and June 30. About $3.7 billion of that was for military equipment and aircraft destroyed, including about 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones that cost about $30 million each.
China has considered Iran its closest and most strategically important partner in the Middle East and continues to maintain ties with Tehran amid the conflict.
Beijing remains the only major buyer of Iranian oil, despite U.S. sanctions amid the war. In April, Trump told Fox News that he had written a letter to Xi begging him not to sell any weapons to Iran.
One official said that China potentially providing Iran with intelligence and military aid is likely to be a key topic of conversation behind the scenes during Xi’s visit, which ends Friday.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Pentagon for comment.
