Hegseth: U.S. working to counter Chinese and Russian support to Iran

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military knows that China and Russia are backing Iran in the war as steps are underway to counter the support.

“As far as Russia and China, we know exactly what they’re doing, what they are or are not doing,” Mr. Hegseth told reporters Tuesday while declining to provide details.

“We don’t have to air publicly what all of that is, but where necessary, we’re addressing it and we’re mitigating it and or we’re confronting it head on,” he said.

Russian support for the besieged Iranian military, which has been hit with thousands of U.S. and Israeli missile and bomb strikes, reportedly includes providing intelligence for Iranian missiles.

Iran carried out a precision attack on an air base in Saudi Arabia that destroyed an E-3 airborne control aircraft, demonstrating a long-range strike.

Recent reports stated that Russia has been providing Tehran with real-time targeting data used in missile strikes in the region.

A report by the Atlantic Council stated that China facilitates the transfer of both Chinese- and Western-made navigation technology to Iran, and Russia shares satellite imagery and modified Shahed drone technology that improves navigation and targeting.

Since 2021, China has allowed Iran access to its BeiDou Global Positioning System data, which can be used in missile targeting, the report said.

The Treasury Department in February 2025 sanctioned Chinese front companies for supplying gyro navigation devices to enhance Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles.

“China, Russia and Iran continue to work together to circumvent and evade Western sanctions and export controls,” said the report authored by Kimberly Donovan and Emily Ezratty.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that Moscow supplied satellite images of the Saudi air base in the days before the Iranian attack.

The Ukrainian leader said he is certain that Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran to assist targeting U.S. forces in the region.

“I think that it’s in Russia’s interest to help Iranians. And I don’t believe — I know — that they share information,” he told NBC News. “Do they help Iranians? Of course. How many %? 100%.”

Moscow also is said to be preparing to supply Iran with drones, the Financial Times reported.

A Kremlin spokesman dismissed the drone export report as lies.

China’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, known as SMIC, supplied chipmaking tools to Iran’s military, Reuters reported Friday, citing senior Trump administration officials.

A Chinese government spokesman dismissed the report as “fake news.”

Much of Iran’s military equipment originates in China and Russia and both nations’ advanced arms have been ineffective.

For example, President Trump said last week that over a hundred Iranian supersonic anti-ship missiles, which come from China, failed to strike the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the region.

China was preparing to send Iran a shipment of CM‑302 anti-ship missiles in February, according to U.S. officials.

It is unclear whether the shipment was made, but China has been supplying Iran with high-speed C-802 and other anti-ship missiles for decades.

On the destruction of the E-3 at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on Friday, which also damaged refueling aircraft and injured 12 service members, Chinese state media said the attack highlights Iran’s intelligence capabilities.

A Chinese military expert said precisely locating and striking such targets demonstrated Iran’s kill chain from detection to decision-making to action.

“Iran’s accurate timing and rapid response suggest it possesses relatively strong real-time surveillance, early warning, and target acquisition capabilities,” Zhang Junshe, the expert, was quoted in the Global Times.

Iran’s support for China was evident in the passage of two Chinese container ships through the threatened Strait of Hormuz on Monday, Reuters reported.

The strategic waterway has been effectively shut down since Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israeli war was launched.

Congress’ U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in a fact sheet earlier this month that Beijing had limited its support for Iran to diplomatic statements.