Iran network imported $2 billion in military hardware since 2025

Iran has used a network of more than 5,000 linked entities to import at least $2 billion worth of military hardware, explosives and heavy trucks since January 2025, according to a Reuters investigation based on shipping records, bank documents and corporate filings.

The entities, which share an address with Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, list an incorporation date of February 11, 1979, though records indicate most were actually established around 2013, during a period of heightened sanctions on Iran. Some have links to the Revolutionary Guard Corps and to foundations known as bonyads, which are controlled by figures close to Iran’s leadership.

Reuters said the findings, developed with the risk consultancy 240 Analytics, address a central question about the current conflict: how Iran has continued to replenish its missile and drone stocks. One entity in the network alone imported an estimated $2.3 billion in goods between January 2025 and June 2026, including rocket propellant materials, detonators, aircraft components and trucks capable of being adapted as mobile launch platforms. Shipping data lists China, Russia and Germany among the countries of origin.

According to the data reviewed, the large majority of transactions were settled without direct currency transfers across borders, with payments instead arranged through intermediaries abroad using funds from oil sales.

Researchers at 240 Analytics said they identified the network after reviewing leaked Iranian banking records, finding a group of accounts following an identical naming convention and sharing the same registration details. Reuters said it cross-referenced this data with corporate registry filings and found connections to Iran’s ballistic missile programme and to Sahara Thunder, an entity sanctioned by the United States in 2024 over drone supplies to Russia.

The investigation also examined a 2025 explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas that killed at least 70 people. Import records show chemicals associated with rocket fuel production arriving at the port shortly before the blast; Reuters said it could not determine whether that shipment was responsible. The chemicals were reportedly stored by a company linked to a foundation overseen by Iran’s supreme leader.

The data also documents European-manufactured vehicles, including trucks made by Italy’s Iveco, reaching Iran via intermediaries based in the United Arab Emirates, despite European Union sanctions on Iran’s defence ministry. Iveco said it requires distributors to certify that its vehicles are not used for military purposes and that it has no visibility into, or responsibility for, onward transfers by third parties.

Import volumes linked to the network declined in the initial weeks after the war began on February 28, 2026, before rising again by May, the data shows, including continued shipments of Russian-made detonators.

A former US Treasury official who reviewed the findings for Reuters described the network as central to Iran’s military procurement over an extended period. A Treasury Department spokesperson said the United States continues to pursue sanctions enforcement against Iran.

None of the Iranian entities named in the report responded to Reuters’ requests for comment. China’s foreign ministry said it was unaware of the matters described and rejected any suggestion of a link between its trade and the conflict. Russia’s defence ministry and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

The report also outlines alleged connections between the network and Revolutionary Guard commanders, including one whom the US has accused of involvement in the deaths of civilian protesters in 2019 and in early 2026. Reuters said it could not independently verify all details of the import data, which in some cases relies on customs classification codes rather than itemised shipment descriptions.