New Delhi: The American F-15E fighter aircraft downed in Iran in April was likely hit by a Chinese missile, the NBC News reported.
It was one of the few instances of an American fighter being downed by enemy fire in decades. The downing of the aircraft set off a high-stakes rescue operation across Southwestern Iran by American forces.
The episode indicates the growing military partnership between Beijing and Tehran. China, according to the NBC News report, also likely provided Iran with an early warning radar system during the early days of the war, giving Tehran the capability to keep an eye on stealth aircraft.
The Iran-China military partnership complicates ties between Beijing and Washington. Investigations into the incident, which occurred during the roughly 40-day conflict launched by the US and Israel against Iran, are still ongoing.
Washington and Tehran are continuing to negotiate an end to the conflict, while a fragile ceasefire remains in place since 8 April.
In April, US President Donald Trump said that the jet was struck by a shoulder-launch missile. About 7 feet long and weighing 40 pounds, the weapons, also known as ‘man-portable air defense weapons,’ or ‘Manpads’, provide an inexpensive, effective way to take down low-flying aircraft.
The US intelligence report suggested China’s plan to provide new air defense weaponry to Iran in the coming weeks. The Trump administration accused China of allowing Iran to use its satellites to target the US forces in the Middle East.
Consequently, the US State Department last month imposed sanctions on three Chinese commercial satellite and geospatial companies allegedly providing Tehran with the imagery and data needed to launch these attacks. China, however, has denied the allegations.
Trump claimed that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had assured him that China would not provide military equipment to Iran, after the two leaders met in Beijing at the end of May. Beijing has maintained that it has not sent any weapons to Iran to date.
On questioning about the F-15 destruction, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy said, “China always acts prudently and responsibly on the export of military products, and exercises strict control in accordance with China’s laws and regulations on export control and due international obligations. China opposes groundless smear and ill-intentioned association.”
However, American officials informed NBC News that China’s support to Iran occurred prior to the war and had no measurable impact on the battlefield.
Beijing had been a major supplier of components and dual-use technologies to Iran, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
China had been a major supplier of components and dual-use technologies to Iran. It backed away from supplying major weapons following the imposition of an arms embargo by the United Nations in 2006.
Nishtha Modgil is an alum of ThePrint School of Journalism, currently interning with ThePrint.