China is still supplying drone factories in Iran and Russia despite U.S. sanctions

On March 5, as the U.S. and Israeli militaries hammered Iranian targets and Tehran launched attacks at Tel Aviv and Gulf countries that host American bases, an email blast emanated from a server located in China. “We are deeply shocked and outraged by the aggression against Iran, and our hearts are with you,” read the message from Xiamen Victory Technology. The company offered to sell German-designed engines used to power one-way attack drones.

The U.S. has prohibited the sale of those engines, known as the Limbach L550, to Iran and Russia. It has been an important component in Iran’s Shahed-136 exploding drone, a version of which Russia has also been using extensively in Ukraine. Victory Technology featured an image of a Shahed-style drone on its website’s product page, alongside the slogan “Innovating Aviation Engine Solutions.”

The open wartime marketing by a small, obscure Chinese company points to a growing source of frustration for Washington: its struggle to staunch the flow of so-called dual-use goods — items with both civilian and military uses — to adversaries.

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