Iran has secretly acquired a Chinese-made intelligence satellite, which has allowed it to launch precise strikes on US military bases in the Middle East.
Modern.az reports that this was stated in a “Financial Times” investigation.
According to Iranian military documents investigated by the newspaper, the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) acquired a satellite called TEE-01B at the end of 2024.
This satellite was manufactured by the Chinese company Earth Eye and can capture images with a resolution of 0.5 meters. This allows for clear differentiation of aircraft, vehicles, and small infrastructure objects on the ground. Previously, the resolution of satellites in Iran was 5 meters or 12–15 meters.
Under the agreement with the Chinese vendor, the IRGC also gained access to commercial ground stations managed by Emposat, a Beijing-based service provider for satellite control and data transmission. The Emposat network covers many regions of the world, including Asia and Latin America. The total value of the agreement was $36.6 million.
According to Iranian documents obtained by the “Financial Times”, in recent months, the Iranian military command has monitored key US military facilities in the region via the TEE-01B satellite. In particular, the documents contain satellite images of the “Prince Sultan” base in Saudi Arabia taken on March 13, 14, and 15. On those days, the base was attacked, and refueling aircraft there were damaged.
Iran also has images of bases in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman, as well as ports, airports, and industrial facilities in the region.
