Iranian Network of 5,000 Agencies Imported Military Goods

An investigation of Iranian records identified more than 5,000 numbered agencies sharing the Tehran address of the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, forming a network used to import military-related goods despite Western sanctions and a U.S. naval blockade, according to the findings. One agency, MOD 346428, recorded $2.3 billion in imports from January 2025 through June 2026, including explosives, rocket-fuel ingredients, aircraft parts, industrial machinery and heavy-duty trucks. The records describe goods with potential military uses, but do not establish that every shipment was intended for weapons production or ultimately used by Iran’s missile and drone programs. The agencies’ names begin with MOD, followed by identifying numbers. They share an address with the defense ministry, and records list their establishment date as February 11, 1979. Most were actually established in 2013, according to the investigation. Some agencies are linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and business conglomerates known as bonyads. The investigation found no evidence that Western governments had individually sanctioned the numbered agencies. Import records showed that...