Second Shipload of Ballistic Missile Fuel Nears Iran

MV Jairan, the second of two Iranian cargo vessels which is believed to have loaded sodium perchlorate in China, was on Saturday morning passing through the Straits of Malacca en route to Bandar Abbas. Sodium perchlorate is the primary feedstock for making ammonium perchlorate, used by Iranian solid-fueled ballistic missiles.

The vessel, which is owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and is subject to secondary US Treasury sanctions, is expected to dock in Bandar Abbas well before its scheduled arrival time on March 26, and is currently traveling with its Automatic Identification System switched on.

The 16,694 ton MV Jairan is believed to have taken on a cargo of 24 containers loaded with sodium perchlorate, enough to refine sufficient ammonium perchlorate to fuel about 250 medium range missiles of the types used by Iran to attack Israel in Operations True Promise-1 and 2.

In the form it is being shipped, sodium perchlorate is classified in the United States as a hazardous product, with explosive risks and the health risks of breathing difficulties and kidney failure from fume exposure. Besides being the feedstock for ammonium perchlorate, it can also be used as an oxidizing agent in engraving processes and in the manufacture of livestock fattening agents. But as a dual use product, and specifically because it is being conveyed by IRISL, the shipment should fall under the provisions of UN Security Resolution 1929, which cautions states to be aware of IRISL’s sanctions-breaking activities and its role in supporting Iran’s missile development, manufacture and maintenance activities.

Sodium perchlorate is processed and fashioned into ammonium perchlorate rocket fuel at the Iranian facilities at Parchin south of Tehran and Khojir. Ammonium perchlorate makes up 70% of the standard fuel load of most of Iran’s solid-fueled ballistic missiles.

Iranian ballistic missiles which use ammonium perchlorate include medium range Khybar-Shikan and Fattah missiles, and the shorter range Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar missiles. In original and variant form, these have been widely exported to Russia and Axis of Resistance allies, and have been used to attack shipping at sea and targets in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel and Ukraine, as well as in the attacks causing injuries to American service personnel at Al Asad in Iraq.

Illustrative of the uses to which ammonium perchlorate is put to in its solid fuel missiles, and the threat which it poses, in February last year the Iranian news agency Tasnim showed video of two containerized solid-fuel Zolfaghar missiles being fired from the deck of the IRGC’s Shahid Mahdavi (Pennant 110-3) in the Gulf of Oman.

This missile has also been used by the Houthis to attack Aramco oil facilities at Ras Tanura. From the Shahid Mahdavi and its sister ships, the Zolfaghar also has a mobile and wide-ranging anti-shipping capability.

Iran is likely to be seriously short of ammonium perchlorate at present, enough to take the risk of interdiction while shipping the material and the risk of causing political embarrassment to China - which currently is keen to protect its negotiating position with the United States over tariffs. Iran’s own ballistic missile domestic fuel production facilities have been damaged in Israeli attacks, and output demands are high because of the need to replace stocks expended in attacks on Israel and to meet increased exports to Russia.

The MV Jairan is believed to be travelling without escorts at present, and by traveling with its Automatic Identification System switched on, it clearly believes that nobody has the political will to intercept the ship - notwithstanding efforts by eight US senators to press the US Department of State into taking action. As it closes on Iran, the MV Jairan has passed through the Straits of Malacca where it was particularly vulnerable, and as it travels towards the northern Indian Ocean it will soon acquire cover from the regular Iranian navy, which has in recent months has increased its naval presence in this sea space.