China, one of the world’ s major powers, supplied weapons and ammunition to both sides during the Iran– Iraq War.

Although relations between Iran and China date back to ancient times, modern diplomatic ties began in 1920 with the signing of a treaty of friendship and consular relations. After the Communist Revolution in 1949, Iran refused to recognize the new government in Beijing, and relations were broken off until they were restored in 1971.⁠[1]

When Iraq invaded Iran, China adopted a dual approach. Officially, it declared neutrality; in practice, it sought to maintain a military balance between the two warring states. Beijing, which had recently (early 1980s) opened relations with the United States and the West, did not want to jeopardize those ties by openly supporting Iran against Iraq, a country backed by Western powers. For this reason, China refused to condemn Iraq for starting the war.⁠[2] Six days after the invasion, on September 28, 1980, China voted in favor of UN Security Council Resolution 479. The resolution avoided mentioning Iraq’ s aggression or the violation of Iran’ s territorial integrity, and merely called on both sides to refrain from further use of force.⁠[3]

A few months into the war, Beijing signed a major arms deal with Baghdad, delivering 1,300 Type‑59 tanks, artillery batteries, and armored personnel carriers worth $1 billion. At the same time, Beijing did not ignore Iran. China saw value in Iran’ s regional influence, particularly in countering Soviet expansion in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf. When Western air corridors were closed to Iranian aircraft early in the war, China allowed Iranian cargo planes to fly through its airspace.

In 1981, China strengthened its ties with Iraq, agreeing to supply enriched uranium for Baghdad’ s nuclear reactor and signing a commercial and economic cooperation agreement.⁠[4] But as Iran started gaining ground in late 1981 and early 1982, relations between Tehran and Beijing expanded. Following an Iranian delegation’ s visit to China, the two countries signed a trade and military cooperation agreement. Nevertheless, China continued to arm Iraq. In December 1982, it delivered 100 F‑6 fighter jets to Baghdad, and in January 1983 sold Iraq 260 T‑69 tanks equipped with laser rangefinders and infrared night‑vision systems in a deal worth $1 billion.

A few months later, in April 1983, China and Iran signed a $1.3 billion arms agreement under which Beijing committed to supplying T‑59 tanks, spare parts for 130‑mm artillery, and various light weapons over a three‑year period.⁠[5] Between 1980 and 1983, China also signed $3.6 billion in arms contracts with Iraq, accounting for 61 percent of its total weapons sales (worth $5.9 billion) to the developing world during that period.⁠[6]

In 1985, China agreed to supply Iran with $1.6 billion worth of weapons, including Type‑59 tanks (a copy of the Russian T‑54), 130‑mm artillery, anti‑tank missile launchers, Silkworm missiles, and C‑801 cruise missiles.⁠[7] This deal triggered diplomatic activity among Arab states. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, and North Yemen traveled to Beijing to discuss how to stop selling weapons to Iran, push both sides to halt attacks on civilian areas, end the war, and seek a peace settlement based on the 1975 Algiers Agreement. Later in June 1985, during a visit to Beijing by Hojatoleslam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, then Speaker of the Iranian Consultative Assembly, China agreed to supply Iran with 40 Scud missiles — though only 15 were delivered by October 1985. China also accepted two million tons of crude oil from Iran in exchange for additional military equipment, including Type‑59 tanks (a copy of Russian T-54 tanks) and anti‑aircraft weapons. This move by China, however, provoked a reaction from the Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia. To avoid political backlash from Arab and Western supporters of Iraq, China often shipped Iranian‑bound weapons through North Korea,⁠[8] allowing Beijing to deny direct involvement.⁠[9]

In the spring of 1986, China sent a delegation to Baghdad to sign a new economic and technical cooperation agreement.⁠[10] By mid‑1986, Iran had purchased $300 million worth of Chinese weapons, making China its largest arms supplier.⁠[11] Later in February 1987, Taha Yassin Ramadan visited Beijing, after which Iraq was reported to have received Chinese-made surface‑to‑air missiles.⁠[12] A few months later, China delivered Silkworm missiles to Iran, though it publicly denied selling weapons to Tehran and insisted on its neutrality.⁠[13] Throughout the Iran-Iraq War, the People’ s Republic of China participated in all United Nations Security Council votes.⁠[14] Beijing voted in favor of UN Security Council Resolution 598 in July 1987 and stated that, if Iran refused to accept the resolution, it would support a UN‑supervised arms embargo against Tehran.

After Iran deployed Silkworm missiles on Qeshm Island to control the Strait of Hormuz and counter Iraq’ s intensified tanker attacks— and especially after Kuwait presented to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council fragments of a Silkworm missile that had hit al‑Ahmadi Port on September 4, 1987, bearing the label “ Made in China” - political and media pressure on Beijing increased.⁠[15] Nevertheless, in late 1987, China delivered another $200 million shipment of weapons to Iran. In total, China sold roughly $600 million worth of arms to Iran that year, including artillery, ammunition, missiles, and weapons‑production equipment.⁠[16]

Between 1980 and 1987, China’ s arms agreements with Iran and Iraq accounted for 74 percent of its total weapons sales to the developing world during that period.⁠[17]

Among the weapons China supplied to Iran during the Iran-Iraq War were 550 mini‑Katyusha rocket launchers, 300 Type‑59 tanks, 520 towed 130‑mm guns, 100 122‑mm howitzers, 75 Silkworm missiles with seven launchers, and 150 HQ‑2 surface‑to‑air missiles (the Chinese version of the Soviet SAM‑2).⁠[18]

Despite repeated visits by senior Iranian officials during the war, Chinese leaders were reluctant to travel to Iran, explaining that they were trying to maintain a balanced stance between Tehran and Baghdad.⁠[19]