Strikes Reported On Chinese-Made Military Hardware Held By Iranian Proxy Groups

Iraqi authorities are investigating possible strikes on storage sites holding Chinese-made air defense systems that were transferred from Iran to aligned militia groups within raw, according to a report from the English language Arab news organization Asharq Al-Awsat.

According to the report, which cited unnamed Iraqi government and security officials, the strikes targeted two sites storing Chinese-made man-portable air defense systems last week. Sources told the outlet that the two sites were suspected of having come under attack, destroying a large shipment of Chinese-made air defense systems that had recently arrived from Iran and been transferred to Iraqi factions loyal to Tehran.

One source explained that “the armed faction that selected the site to store the air defense systems believed it would be extremely difficult to access or detect.” The source added that “the suspected attack occurred shortly after the shipments arrived at the two storage sites.”

Asharq Al-Awsat did not identify the specific systems involved and noted that the information, including reports that the air defense systems had reached Iraq, could not be independently verified. China’s Foreign Ministry had categorically denied reports of deals involving the sale or shipment of Chinese-made missiles and air defense systems to Iran on July 28.

Earlier reporting from Reuters, which cited three sources familiar with the matter, indicated that Iran was expected to receive a shipment of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers as it rebuilt its defenses.

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Sources say Iraq suspects that strikes on 2 Chinese air defence systems supplied to Iranian proxy militias by Iran on October 17 were conducted by Israel.

Also according to sources cited by a-Sharq al-Awsat, a series of explosions in areas around Baghdad on October 1 targeted… pic.twitter.com/vpbCdYrxsQ

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The Asharq Al-Awsat account referenced an explosion on October 17 at a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) facility in the East Canal area of Baghdad. The PMF, which includes Iran-backed militias and functions as an Iraqi government paramilitary force, announced that it had contained a fire caused by an explosion at a stockpile of damaged ammunition.

An Iraqi government official who was not authorized to speak publicly said the relevant authorities were still examining the circumstances of the explosion. Another source indicated that the October 17 incident followed a series of blasts that began on October 1 and targeted warehouses belonging to armed factions in various areas around Baghdad, including facilities storing drones designed for suicide attacks and reconnaissance.

A security official told Asharq Al-Awsat that authorities in Baghdad had sufficient grounds to believe Israel was behind the strikes on the warehouses, although they had yet to determine how the attacks were conducted. An Iraqi official said the government did not yet possess conclusive information identifying those responsible for the attack.

Two people close to the leader of an armed faction told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Iran-aligned groups were exploiting the declared truce with the Americans to reposition themselves and transfer strategic weapons.” A senior political adviser said the reported attack reflected an assessment within Iraqi intelligence circles that the resumption of the US-Israeli war against Iran may already have begun, albeit quietly and without an official announcement, on Iraqi territory.

On Saturday, the group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it had “documented 171 violations of Iraqi airspace by combat and reconnaissance aircraft since the beginning of October 2026.” On September 30, the secretary-general of Kataib Hezbollah announced the group’s commitment to suspending military operations but excluded what he described as “attacks involving aircraft and hostile violations of airspace” until government air defenses were fully established.

The Coordination Framework official told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officials had instructed leaders of Iraqi armed factions to step up preparations to establish a defensive line “against hostile combat aircraft.”

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