CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY (Sam Faddis) - Are the Chinese helping the Iranians build more drones and missiles?
Originally published by AND Magazine
Trade between Iran and Tajikistan exploded in the first quarter of this year. It jumped 41,105% year-on-year. The two nations don’t share a land border, and the Tajiks themselves make very little that would be of value to Iran in the middle of a war, but Tajikistan has historically served as a cutout for the Chinese, allowing them to send equipment and material to Iran and evade sanctions. In this sense, Tajikistan is a “cutout” for Beijing. The standout surge element in Q1 of 2026 in exports to Iran from Tajikistan was “nuclear reactors, boilers, and machines.” That is a broad category, and the actual exports to Iran this year likely had very little to do with nuclear technology. But what is being shipped via this route? …Open