Iran, a nation that has supported terrorist groups that have murdered Americans, is trying to rebuild its missile program after its disastrous Twelve-Day War (June 13 – 25, 2025) in which the Israeli Defense Forces destroyed a significant amount of Iran’s weapons capability. Now, they are receiving Chinese support to rebuild their arsenal.
Sodium perchlorate is a precursor used to make ammonium perchlorate (AP), the primary oxidizer in most solid rocket motors. For all combustion to happen, three things are needed: heat, fuel and oxidizer (oxygen). Unlike typical atmospheric flight, such as that from a jet engine, ballistic missile engines must carry their own source of oxygen as they operate at very high levels of the atmosphere where oxygen is thin or non-existent. Sodium perchlorate is turned into ammonium perchlorate which provides the requisite oxygen for ballistic missile engines to function.
Sodium perchlorate is not on the sanctions list because it has scientific and industrial uses other than weapons technology. For example, it is often used in DNA research and for the manufacturing of PVC plastics.
The U.S. Treasury Department under Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent has designated six entities and six individuals based in Iran and China for their role in providing weapons material such as sodium perchlorate to Iran. All property and interests of the designated individuals and entities that are in the United States are blocked and must be reported to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Since the 1980s, Iran has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks though state-sponsored proxies that have killed Americans. One of the most recent was in 2024 when SGT William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Georgia; SPC Kennedy Ladon Sanders of Waycross, Georgia; and SPC Breonna Alexsondria Moffett of Savannah, Georgia were killed in Jordan during a drone attack. Eight other US Military personnel were also injured. The terrorist group Kataib Hezbollah is believed to be responsible, which is supported by Iran’s terror network. The group was also responsible for killing hundreds of US service members in Iraq from 2003-2011.
Iran, a nation that often shouts “Death to America” and “Death to the Jews” in the same breath continues to be a threat to American security. They are supported by the Communist Party of China, who seek to dismantle American security at home and abroad.
