A Reuters investigation has uncovered thousands of entities used by Tehran to fund and import equipment, including for its missile and drone programs. In this message posted on Truth Social on October 12, 2026, US President Donald Trump denied that China or Russia were helping Iran's war effort. But import data and documents uncovered by Reuters show that the Iranian military imported equipment shipped by cargo vessel from Russia across the Caspian Sea, by air from China and by truck from Central Asia. By circumventing Western sanctions and the US naval blockade, Iran has reportedly built a military procurement system on a previously unsuspected scale. In an investigation based on banking, customs and trade documents, the news agency Reuters reveals the existence of more than 5,000 entities that enable the Islamic Republic to continue buying goods abroad, even during the war.
