Two Iranian cargo ships are scheduled to transport a chemical precursor for missile propellant from China to Iran, according to Western security officials. The two ships, the Golbon and the Jairan, will carry more than 1,000 tons of sodium perchlorate for delivery to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) within weeks, according to the officials. Sodium perchlorate is used to produce ammonium perchlorate, which makes up 70% of solid-fuel missile propellant and is controlled by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, said it was not familiar with the report.

Iranian vice president and former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif acknowledged that Israeli sabotage was responsible for explosions at Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in 2020 and 2021. Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency had already signaled its responsibility for the attacks, which involved the sale of explosive-packed centrifuge platforms to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran through an infiltrated dealer.

Iranian national Mohammad Abedini was released from detention in Italy and returned to Iran after Italy's justice minister revoked his arrest. Abedini had been detained on a U.S. warrant for allegedly having supplied microelectronics to Iran that were subsequently used in a fatal drone attack on U.S. troops in Jordan. The Italian justice ministry claimed that the charges had no parallel in Italian law, preventing extradition. Italian media linked the case to the Iranian detention of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, which took place three days after Abedini's arrest. Iran released Sala shortly before Abedini’s release from Italy.

U.S., European, and Arab officials confirmed that Iranian forces largely withdrew from Syria following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December. Iranian personnel and Iran-backed militias that had supported Assad since 2011 fled to Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon, leaving behind military equipment and vehicles.