Leaked US Intel Reportedly Suggests That China Supported Iran as Donald Trump Woos President Xi Jinping

A leaked US intelligence assessment suggests Chinese groups helped Iran improve attacks on American targets in the Middle East, CNN reported during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the US.

The allegations emerged as Donald Trump hosted Xi for talks and a state dinner at the White House.

The report followed an account by The Wall Street Journal a day earlier that identified around 1,300 shipments of dual-use components from China to Iran during the first half of this year. Those components can be used in drones and missiles, according to that report.

The assessment described by CNN suggests satellite imagery and intelligence from Chinese groups helped Tehran track ships more precisely in the Strait of Hormuz and strike US military bases. The reported assistance was also linked to a July attack in Jordan that killed three US service members.

What the Leaked US Intel Suggests

'There's a reason that their targeting has improved, and it is due to some assistance,' a source told CNN. 'Getting reps on the battlefield helps, but getting a helping hand helps a lot too.'

US officials stressed to CNN that it was unclear whether Beijing was directly ordering groups to assist Iran or simply allowing that assistance to happen. That remains a central distinction in the reporting. The assessment's account of help from Chinese groups does not establish whether Beijing ordered it directly. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify these claims.

A source familiar with the assessment said Iran had rapidly improved its ability to strike precise targets, including taking out MQ-9 Reaper drones 'left and right'.

'Without the Chinese parts they wouldn't be as likely to keep fighting, it is as basic as that,' a US official told CNN.

Trump's Welcome for Xi Jinping

Trump greeted Xi at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday before hosting a White House state dinner attended by Cabinet officials, technology industry figures and prominent MAGA names.

In April, Trump told Fox News that he had written a letter to Xi begging him not to sell weapons to Iran. The reports of Chinese assistance have emerged while the two leaders are meeting, bringing that earlier appeal back into focus.

A US official disputed the suggestion that outside assistance was improving Iran's ability to target Americans.

'As the president stated, nothing that any outside actor is doing to help Iran is in any way increasing their ability to target Americans,' the official told the Daily Beast.

That response differs from the assessment described by CNN, which links assistance from Chinese groups to improved Iranian targeting. Neither account resolves the uncertainty over whether Beijing directly authorised such support.

China's Iran Ties and the War's Cost

China considers Iran its closest and most strategically important partner in the Middle East and has maintained ties during the conflict. Beijing remains the only major buyer of Iranian oil despite US sanctions amid the war.

Earlier this month, a Defence Department inspector general report estimated that the conflict cost the US $33.4 billion between 28 February and 30 June.

About $3.7 billion covered destroyed military equipment and aircraft, including about 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones costing about $30 million each. One official said China's potential provision of intelligence and military assistance to Iran was likely to be a key subject of private discussions during Xi's visit, which ends Friday.