Iran Imports 2.3 Billion Dollars in Military Supplies Despite Blockade

Iran imported $2.3 billion worth of military-related goods between January 2025 and June 2026 through a procurement network designed to circumvent Western sanctions and US restrictions, according to a Reuters investigation. The findings identify more than 5,000 agencies linked to Iran's defense establishment and reveal how foreign intermediaries helped supply materials for the country's missile and drone programs during the war.

Reuters traced the shipments through Iranian banking and government documents, corporate records, import data, and shipping records. The investigation, conducted with Israeli-American risk consultancy 240 Analytics, examined how military procurement continued despite efforts to restrict Iran's access to weapons-related materials.

One entity, identified as MOD 346428, imported goods worth $2.3 billion during the investigation period, according to The Times of India, which reported on the findings. An earlier report by APA described the imports as worth more than $2 billion and said the shipments included rocket engines, explosives, and other weapons components.

The materials included chemicals used in rocket propellants, detonators, titanium, precision machinery, aircraft engine parts, and heavy-duty trucks that could be modified to carry missile launchers. Experts who reviewed the findings said such supplies could support the manufacture and expansion of Iran's missile and drone capabilities.

Reuters identified more than 5,000 agencies whose names begin with MOD followed by a five- or six-digit number. The entities shared a registered address with Iran's Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, known as MODAFL, according to the investigation.

The network relied on overseas intermediaries and shell companies to purchase goods from foreign suppliers. Its financial connections also extended to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and businesses associated with Iran's political elite.

Records from Bank Sepah, an Iranian state-owned lender responsible for handling salaries and pensions for the IRGC, linked some of the agencies to military personnel. These connections provided investigators with additional evidence of the network's relationship with Iran's military institutions.

Miad Maleki, a former senior US Treasury official who helped design American sanctions against Iran, described the network's importance to the country's military operations.

"What you have here is the regime's military lifeline during this conflict and for many years before," said Miad Maleki, a former senior US Treasury official.

The investigation also examined how payments were structured to reduce the visibility of transactions involving foreign suppliers. According to Reuters, 97% of the shipments reviewed were settled "without currency transfer," a method that made the transactions more difficult to trace through conventional cross-border payment records.

Military-related goods entered Iran through several transportation routes, according to the reports. These included cargo ships crossing the Caspian Sea from Russia, trucks traveling from Central Asia, and freight aircraft arriving from China.

Import records also identified goods originating in Germany and other European Union countries. The reported origins highlight the international reach of the supply network, although the presence of an item in import records does not by itself establish that its supplier knowingly supported military procurement.

Peter Salisbury, an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University who researches Iranian arms transfers and supply chains, assessed the potential scale of the procurement effort.

"This looks like an industrial-scale effort to rebuild or expand Iran's existing fleet" of drones and missiles, said Peter Salisbury, an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University.

The findings offer insight into how Iran has continued obtaining equipment for its weapons programs while US and Israeli strikes have targeted its missile and drone capabilities. The investigation covered shipments between January 2025 and June 2026, including the first four months of the war described in the APA report.