Is China Arming Iran?

Some of the weapons that officials said were seized off the coast of Yemen in January, from a dhow seen leaving an Iranian port. Yemeni Defense Ministry, via Reuters

Seized Chinese Weapons Raise Concerns on Iran -- New York Times

An Iranian dhow seized off the Yemeni coast was carrying sophisticated Chinese antiaircraft missiles, a development that could signal an escalation of Iran’s support to its Middle Eastern proxies, alarming other countries in the region and renewing a diplomatic challenge to the United States.

Among the items aboard the dhow, according to a review of factory markings on weapons and their packing crates, were 10 Chinese heat-seeking antiaircraft missiles, most of them manufactured in 2005.

The missiles were labeled QW-1M and bore stencils suggesting that they had been assembled at a factory represented by the state-owned China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation, sanctioned by the United States for transfers of missile technology to Pakistan and Iran.

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Update: Anti-aircraft missiles Iran was trying to ship to Yemeni proxy were made at factory of state-owned Chinese corp. -- All Voices

My Comment: I guess this is one way for China to pay off it's oil debt to Iran. More news on another Chinese trader who is violating sanctions on Iran over missile and nuclear parts is here. As to the implications of Iran arming it's Middle Eastern proxies in the region with sophisticated weapons .... it is obvious that the shadow war that Iran has been waging in the region is slowly escalating into an open conflict.