The US State Department announced on Friday (May 8th) that it has imposed sanctions on four entities related to Iran, including three Chinese companies providing satellite imagery to Iran. These satellite images have supported Iran in launching military strikes against US forces in the Middle East.
According to the State Department, “Providing satellite images of US facilities in the Middle East to Iran threatens the safety of US personnel and its partner countries.” The statement also mentioned that the US will continue to take action to hold Chinese entities accountable for their support to Iran and ensure that Iran cannot rebuild its sensitive programs involving weapons proliferation risks after the “Operation Epic Fury”.
Furthermore, the State Department issued a warning that attacks against US military personnel and partners will be met with a response.
The sanctioned Chinese companies include Hangzhou Meentropy Technology (MizarVision), Beijing Earth Eye Technology, and Chang Guang Satellite Technology.
The State Department stated that Meentropy Technology is a geospatial intelligence company based in China. The company has released open-source images that detailed US military activities during “Operation Epic Fury”. Earth Eye Technology, based in Beijing, provided satellite images to Iran during the operation.
Chang Guang Satellite Technology is a commercial satellite company based in China that collected satellite images of US and allied military facilities to support Iran’s image requests during “Operation Epic Fury”. Chang Guang had previously provided satellite images to the Houthi armed group, listed by the US for targeting American military targets.
Before the formal announcement of sanctions by the US, some media had already revealed that satellite images released by Chinese companies helped Iran identify US targets, endangering the lives of American and allied personnel. Sources from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) disclosed to ABC that Meentropy Technology utilized artificial intelligence tools to release detailed satellite images with tagged data of multiple US military bases before and during the outbreak of war with Iran. Previously, identifying and tagging large areas of military forces required national intelligence resources.
According to business records, Meentropy Technology was founded in 2021 as a private company with the Chinese authorities holding a 5.5% share.
In a statement posted on its official Facebook page in March, the US Congressional Committee on China referred to companies linked to China transforming artificial intelligence into surveillance tools targeting the US, emphasizing that the threat from China’s technological ecosystem is no longer theoretical.
In addition to sanctioning the three Chinese companies, the US State Department also imposed sanctions on the Iranian Ministry of Defense Export Center (MINDEX) on Friday. MINDEX is responsible for promoting Iranian defense equipment at international military exhibitions.