Iran’s Guards Used UAE Company to Buy Military Satellite Equipment

May 24, 2026

Author: 

Miles Johnson, Chris Cook, and Demetri Sevastopulo

Publication: 

Financial Times

Related Country: 

  • China
  • United Arab Emirates

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force imported approximately 1.8 tons of satellite antenna equipment in late 2025 via the United Arab Emirates-based company Telesun. The goods, a motorized satellite antenna and related accessories, arrived in a single shipment. A Chinese container ship made the first leg of the delivery from Shanghai to Dubai in August. The container was then transferred to an Iranian vessel, which delivered the shipment to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas while falsifying its transponder signal to show the vessel as located in the Gulf of Oman. The shipment's consignee was Ertebatat Faragostar Kish (EFK), an Iranian telecommunications company working for Saman Industrial Group, which was sanctioned by the United States in 2023 for serving as a front company for the IRGC Aerospace Force's Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization. The delivery's Iranian shipping agent was Blue Calm Marine Services, which was also sanctioned by the United States in 2023 for facilitating shipments of missile-related goods to Iran's defense ministry.