China denies report of planned missile launcher shipment to Iran

30/07/2026

BEIJING, July 30 — China on Thursday denied a Reuters report that Iran was expected to receive an initial shipment of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air defense missile launchers within weeks, calling the report “not true and not factual at all.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing has repeatedly made its position clear on the issue and stressed that China “always works for peace and the end of the conflict.”

Pakistan also categorically rejected the report that it would provide transit for the shipment. Its military media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, called the claims “baseless and devoid of truth.”

Reuters had reported, citing unnamed sources, that the first shipment could be transported from Urumqi in western China through Pakistan before reaching Iran, as Tehran seeks to strengthen its air defenses amid its conflict with the United States.