Russian and Chinese military advisers are using their own surveillance satellites and targeting equipment to help #Iran target #US bases across the #MiddleEast. U.S. intelligence reports and leaked documents confirm that Iran has leveraged Chinese-built satellites and Russian military intelligence to monitor and coordinate strikes against U.S. bases in the Middle East. Leaked Iranian military documents first revealed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force acquired operational control of a Chinese-made spy satellite to track U.S. assets. Additionally, U.S. defense officials have noted growing concerns that Russia and Chi

Russian and Chinese military advisers are using their own surveillance satellites and targeting equipment to help  #Iran target  #US bases across the  #MiddleEast.
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U.S. intelligence reports and leaked documents confirm that Iran has leveraged Chinese-built satellites and Russian military intelligence to monitor and coordinate strikes against U.S. bases in the Middle East. Leaked Iranian military documents first revealed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force acquired operational control of a Chinese-made spy satellite to track U.S. assets. Additionally, U.S. defense officials have noted growing concerns that Russia and China are providing advanced targeting assistance as Iran deploys increasingly maneuverable, high-speed missiles against American positions. [1, 2, 3, 4]
China’s Role: In-Orbit Satellite Delivery and Imagery

The TE01B Satellite: Built and launched by the Chinese company Earth Eye Co, the TE01B remote-sensing satellite was transferred to Iran’s military via an “in-orbit delivery”. This allows the IRGC to input task orders directly, effectively giving them an independent space-based reconnaissance asset. [1, 5, 6, 7]
High-Resolution Capabilities: The satellite provides sub-meter resolution (down to approximately half a meter), offering imaging capabilities nearly ten times sharper than Iran’s domestic military satellites. [6]
Targeting Evidence: Captured coordinate lists and time-stamped images show the satellite monitored locations before and after major drone and missile strikes. Tracked installations include:Prince Sultan Air Base (Saudi Arabia)
Muafaq Salti Air Base (Jordan)
U.S. Fifth Fleet Naval Base (Manama, Bahrain)
Erbil Airport (Iraq) [1, 5, 8, 9]

U.S. Sanctions: In response to these operations, the U.S. Treasury Department issued sanctions against Chinese space firms, including Chang Guang Satellite Technology and Earth Eye Co, for directly aiding Iran’s tactical acquisition and target synchronization. [10, 11]
Russia’s Role: Intelligence Sharing
Satellite Mapping Support: Ukrainian and U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that Russian state satellites have conducted geographical surveys of U.S. installations across 11 Middle Eastern nations. [2, 8]
Direct Data Pipeline: This mapping data and actionable satellite imagery were reportedly passed to Tehran, helping Iranian forces bypass domestic infrastructure limitations—especially following heavy regional counter-strikes on Iran’s own systems. [2, 7, 12]
Operational Impacts

The influx of high-tier foreign space assets has fundamentally altered the tactical landscape. Analysts attribute the high accuracy of recent drone and missile strikes—such as the complex maneuvers utilized in recent strikes on Jordanian installations and the drone attacks on Camp Udairi and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait—directly to this enhanced intelligence architecture. While Beijing has officially dismissed these reports as disinformation, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency maintains that foreign space-based support poses an active threat to American personnel throughout the region. [1, 4, 13, 14, 15]

[Rich media excluded from paste]
[1]  reuters.com

[2]  forbes.com
[3]  youtube.com
[4]  turkiyetoday.com

[5]  youtube.com
[6]  youtube.com
[7]  cnn.com
[8]  youtube.com
[9]  youtube.com
[10]  hudson.org
[11]  kharon.com
[12]  youtube.com
[13]  timesofisrael.com
[14]  youtube.com
[15]  bbc.co.uk

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Jul 19, 2026