China and Iran have quietly stepped up their mutual trade via barter transactions, Bloomberg reported, exchanging Chinese cars for Iranian copper and zinc to circumvent deepening international sanctions.
The Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter said Chinese carmakers are exchanging vehicles and auto parts for Iranian copper and zinc, allowing both nations to bypass US restrictions on dollar transactions.
At the heart of the arrangement are companies based in China’s Anhui province, including Chery Automobile and Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group.
Chery, which recently raised $1.2 billion in a Hong Kong IPO, sells parts and technology to another firm in Anhui that assembles semi-knocked down vehicles.
Those partially built cars are then shipped to Iran, where they are finished and sold under the Modiran Vehicle Manufacturing (MVM) brand — a local venture Chery established in 2004 that went on to become Iran’s most popular foreign car line.
In exchange, containers of Iranian copper and zinc are sent to China, feeding the country’s vast metals industry, Bloomberg added.
Tongling Nonferrous, one of China’s biggest metals producers, reportedly helps broker the trade.
None of the companies involved are accused of breaching sanctions, since they operate entirely outside the US or European financial systems and trade in local currencies — yuan and rials — rather than dollars or euros. Under Chinese law, such commerce remains legal.
Fragmented global trade
This barter system emerged as a creative response to the financial squeeze Iran faced after the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018.
The reinstatement of US sanctions after President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal effectively cut Tehran off from global banking, making it nearly impossible for Iranian firms to pay foreign suppliers through conventional means.
Barter, once a relic of Cold War trade long plied by an isolated Soviet Union, offered a practical workaround.
The car-for-copper model underscores how sanctions have fragmented global trade and encouraged alternative systems that exclude the US dollar.
Similar arrangements have been reported between Iran and Sri Lanka, which swapped tea for oil, and even between China and Russia since 2022.
For Iran, these deals provide vital access to consumer goods and industrial materials that would otherwise be scarce under sanctions. For China, they secure steady supplies of raw materials while expanding its industrial influence in sanctioned markets.
Chery’s history with Iran reflects Beijing’s long-term strategy of using trade to deepen ties with isolated economies.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tehran in 2016, Chery’s CEO accompanied him — a symbol of how industrial cooperation forms part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Despite pledging in its IPO filings to reduce exposure to sanctioned markets, Chery’s enduring presence in Iran demonstrates how resilient and adaptable this trade relationship remains.
While modest in scale compared with China’s overall $9 billion annual exports to Iran, the revival of barter trade highlights a broader geopolitical trend: as Western sanctions proliferate, countries like China and Iran are forging parallel economic systems that operate beyond Washington’s reach.
The reports cite export data allegedly taken from Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies (KRET), a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned Rostec Corporation.
The documents, published online by hacker group Black Mirror in early October, list Iran under customer code “364” for a package of 48 Su-35 multirole fighters.
“The leaked tables show Iran’s Su-35 package valued at more than €5–6 billion once full airframe and weapons systems are included,” Defense Security Asia said.
The leak also included “48 heads-up display systems and electronic-warfare components, confirming the 48-aircraft figure linked to Iran’s order,” the report added.
A separate defense blog said the files contain “detailed pricing, delivery schedules, and export plans for advanced Sukhoi fighter jets destined for several foreign clients — including Iran, Algeria, and Ethiopia.”
The material, it said, was “published online on October 3 by the hacker collective Black Mirror, which claims to have accessed more than 300 internal documents from Rostec’s systems.”
Deliveries and local assembly plans
The leaked export tables outline a multi-year schedule, with shipments of avionics and electronic-warfare systems for the Iranian jets between 2024 and 2026.
Full aircraft deliveries are expected from 2026 through 2028.
Defense Security Asia wrote the leak “suggests Russia may go beyond simple export delivery -- offering semi-knocked-down assembly in Iran through a local aerospace partner, possibly under the Iran Aviation Industries Organization.”
Unverified details in the same tranche say Russian technicians from Sukhoi and KRET have been stationed in Iran since early 2024 to oversee assembly preparations.
“This arrangement could allow Iran to assemble 48 to 72 units over several years, creating its first near-indigenous fourth-plus-generation fighter production line since the 1970s,” the outlet said.
Iranian lawmakers confirm fighter and missile purchases
Iranian officials have recently discussed the arrival of Russian aircraft. Lawmaker Abolfazl Zohrevand said on October 1 that Russian MiG-29s had already entered Iran as what he called a short-term solution, adding that “for long-term solutions, Su-35s will gradually enter.”
He also said, “The HQ-9 system is entering substantially and the S-400 likewise.”
Another lawmaker, Fada Hossein Maleki, said in September that Iran’s general staff “is pursuing the purchase of air-defense systems from China and Russia.”
Moscow’s reliability questioned inside Iran
Some senior figures have voiced skepticism about Russia’s commitment. Mohammad Sadr, a member of Iran’s Expediency Council, said Moscow “was willing to sell S-400 systems to Turkey, a NATO member, but has still not provided them to Iran.”
“Russia has a particular inclination toward Israel and for a long time there has been talk of buying Su-35s, while Russia has built higher models, but even this it does not give us,” he added.
The conservative daily Farhikhtegan reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently carried a “message of reproach” from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s performance during the 12-day war.
If the leaked Rostec files are genuine, the Su-35 deal would mark Iran’s largest military procurement in decades, deepening its strategic dependence on Russia.
“The first shipment of imported wheat, part of a 30,000-ton import permit and weighing nearly 5,000 tons, has reached Amirabad port and will soon be transferred to provincial silos,” said the head of Mazandaran’s Grain and Commercial Services, as quoted by Tasnim.
The move follows sustained efforts by provincial authorities to diversify wheat supplies and improve food quality amid recurring drought and local production challenges. Officials said mixing imported grain with domestic wheat is expected to enhance flour quality across the province.
Caspian nations including Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are among the region’s key grain producers.
Mazandaran officials also discussed tighter oversight of the flour and bread supply chain, including mandatory GPS and camera systems for flour transport vehicles to prevent diversion and ensure transparency, Tasnim said.
Provincial economic deputy governor Mohammad Ebrahim Toulaei added that Iran aims to strengthen local mills and improve the quality of subsidized bread, while providing loans to bakers for upgrading dual-fuel and backup power equipment.
