Iranian customs data show approximately 1,300 shipments of dual-use goods with applications in missile guidance systems and drones from China to Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) in the first six months of 2026. The goods shipped included GPS tracking devices, electric motors, and aircraft engine parts and largely arrived by air to Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran. The air cargo shipments coincided with an expansion of Mahan Air flights from Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai to Tehran.Several Chinese companies also supplied Iran with chemicals used to manufacture missile propellant by sea prior to the imposition of the U.S. naval blockade on Iran in early 2026. One U.S.-sanctioned company, Haokun Energy, told a sanctioned Iranian importer in December 2025 that it had coordinated with Chinese authorities to "confidentially" obtain required licenses for the export of sodium perchlorate to Iran and set up a shell company to carry out the transaction. A U.S. Treasury Department spokesperson said the department maintains a communication channel with Chinese counterparts to address Iran-related activity in China's jurisdiction.

Turkey's banking agency revoked the operating license of the Iranian financial institution Bank Mellat's Istanbul branch. The agency cited a law that allows the revocation of licenses from banks that pose a risk to depositors' rights or the security and stability of the financial system. The United States had santioned a Turkish investment bank and its two subsidiaries earlier in September.

Iran has used a barter mechanism to import billions of dollars' worth of Chinese goods, including military equipment, in exchange for oil, according to two unnamed senior Iranian sources and three other individuals. Under the arrangement, a buyer associated with Chinese state-owned oil trading company Zhuhai Zhenrong deposited hundreds of millions of dollars per month with Chinese financial entity ChuXin. The deposits corresponded to purchases agreed with a Hong Kong-registered company linked to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Seventy percent of the deposits were then allocated to infrastructure projects, while thirty percent were sent to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) used to pay Chinese companies that export goods to Iran. The mechanism has been used by Iran to import medicine, vehicles, and communications equipment, but was also used at least once since September 2025 to supply Iran with millions of dollars' worth of air defense equipment.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that it was suspending all trade, commercial, and financial exchanges with Iran following an Iranian missile attack near its coast. The country's defense ministry said that two ballistic missiles had been launched from Iran to target maritime traffic, and that one fell into the sea inside Emirati territorial waters. It was the first attack to trigger an emergency phone alert in the UAE since June, although the UAE accused Iran of attacking ships operated by its national oil company in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in August. Prior to the attack, Iran and the UAE had resumed some diplomatic and economic exchanges, including Iranian flights to Emirati airports.