Iran is using a network of more than 5,000 military-linked agencies to import equipment and materials that could sustain its missile and drone programs despite Western sanctions and a US naval blockade, a Reuters investigation has found.
One agency alone, identified as MOD 346428, imported $2.3 billion worth of goods between January 2025 and June this year, according to records the news agency reviewed.
Purchases included explosives, rocket fuel ingredients, aircraft engine components, industrial machinery, and trucks suitable for conversion into mobile launchers.
According to Reuters, the findings help explain how Iran has continued replenishing its weapons supplies during the war against the US and Israel despite attacks on its military production facilities.
The network serves senior military figures involved in Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs.
It relies on overseas intermediaries and foreign shell companies, collectively known as “trustees,” that use proceeds from illicit Iranian oil sales to purchase equipment and materials.
For 97 percent of the shipments reviewed, records indicated settlement “without currency transfer.”
These intermediaries paid suppliers using funds already held in foreign bank accounts, reducing the need for cross-border transfers that could trigger sanctions checks.
Goods then reached Iran through several routes, including cargo vessels crossing the Caspian Sea from Russia, trucks traveling through Central Asia, and freight aircraft from China.
Trucks Linked to Military Procurement
According to the report, MOD 346428 imported 435 Iveco trucks, alongside thousands of Toyota Hilux and Land Cruiser vehicles.
Reuters matched three Iveco vehicle identification numbers in import records to trucks shown in footage from a Tehran customs yard.
Separate documents linked a 2022 purchase of six Iveco trucks through Italy and Dubai to Sahara Thunder, a US-sanctioned company involved in supplying Iranian drones to Russia.
Iveco said vehicles had reached Iran outside its control, while Toyota said it neither conducts business in Iran nor knew of the reported purchases.
