China hand: Did you know Chinese cooperation in Iranian nuclear programme goes back decades?

Did you know that China was actively involved in the Iranian nuclear programme, which has faced bombardment by Israel and the US in recent days? China had been helping Iran build its vast nuclear programme for decades. It provided the Islamic Republic with technical, and economic aid to help develop its nuclear capabilities.

The China link to Iran's nuclear programme goes back to 1980s

Since the formation of the Islamic Republic after the revolution of 1979, China has been helping Iran with its nuclear efforts. The help was given in building a research nuclear reactor and supplying at least four additional research reactors. China aided Iran in building a uranium hexafluoride enrichment plant near Isfahan. In theory, this could help Iran produce material for nuclear weapons.

Chinese nuclear technology transfers to Iran

China had given nuclear technology transfers to Iran as recently as 2000s. Note that this was around the time that the Amad Project, the alleged secretive nuclear weapons programme of Iran, was exposed and officially halted. The Amad project started in 1989 and ended in 2003, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Under the Amad Plan, Iran allegedly acquired several foreign weapon designs and refined them to develop its own, according to a report in the Iran Watch website.

Iran "conducted conventional explosives testing; carried out casting and machining experiments with surrogate materials; and studied how to integrate the warhead with a Shahab-3 missile," the website claimed in an article.

Did these nuclear weapon blueprints have any Chinese links? We will probably never know.

Nevertheless, it is fair to say that China's backing in the early days of the Islamic Republic helped it build its nuclear infrastructure.

China and Iran have deep strategic ties

China and Iran have a long-standing strategic relationship, cemented through a 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement signed in 2021.

It should be noted that China is a critical economic lifeline for Iran, as it buys nearly 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports.

Many of these exports are carried out through shadow fleets to evade American and Western sanctions on Iran. That trade, according to reports, accounts for some 20 per cent of Iran’s economy. It is fair to assume that this also indirectly finances the Iranian nuclear programme.

Note here that China has also supplied missile fuel components and other armaments, enhancing Iran’s military capabilities and helping its ballistic missile development.