September 14th, 2026: China Helped Iran Carry Out Strike That Killed 3 U.S. Troops & Russian Drone Strikes Near Poland

Mike Baker (0:13)

It's Monday, the 14th of September. Welcome to The President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And congratulations to Ole Miss, another in the win category. Next up, they're playing LSU. Lane Kiffin returns to Oxford, Mississippi. That's going to be high entertainment right there. All right, let's get briefed. First up, new reporting says Iran obtained Chinese satellite imagery of a US base before launching the attack that killed three American troops in Jordan. We'll tell you what US officials are now saying about Beijing's role. Later in the show, Iran-backed Houthi forces seize a strategic island at the entrance to the Red Sea, putting another major global oil route under growing pressure. Huzzah. Plus, Russia targets a train near the Polish border on a rail line regularly used by foreign leaders traveling into Ukraine. And in today's Back of the Brief, U.S.-Canada relations continue to deteriorate, as Prime Minister Mark Carney explores whether Canada could become a, quote, associate member of the European Union. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

We're getting new details about the Iranian missile strike that killed three American troops in Jordan this summer. And what US officials now say was a critical piece of intelligence that Iran obtained before the attack. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Iranian regime acquired a high-resolution satellite imagery of the US base from Chinese entities before launching the July 17th strike. According to US officials familiar with the intelligence, those images have now been connected to that attack. And they say it represents the clearest evidence yet that Chinese support for Iran during this war has had lethal consequences for American forces. The target was Muafiq Salty Air Base that's in northeastern Jordan. Iran launched three separate missile strikes against the base over a 24-hour period. One of those ballistic missiles hit a housing area where American troops had been sleeping. Three US soldiers were killed, four others were wounded and medically evacuated. Iran also targeted manned and unmanned aircraft stationed at the base. And according to the Journal, Tehran had obtained high-resolution Chinese satellite imagery of the installation before the attack and continued acquiring imagery after the attacks. Now, US officials are not alleging yet that Beijing ordered the strike nor directly participated in it. And there's no public evidence establishing that the Chinese government specifically instructed anyone to provide Iran with imagery of this base. But there's an important distinction here.

China's commercial satellite industry doesn't operate with the same separation, the same firewall between private companies and the government that we're accustomed to seeing in the US or with other Western countries. The Journal notes that even ostensibly private Chinese satellite companies operate under extensive government oversight and many have connections to the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP. So while the reporting doesn't establish that Beijing directed this operation, it also doesn't answer how much the Chinese government knew about or potentially enabled the flow of satellite intelligence to the Iranian regime. If one were to speculate, it would not be unfair to state that a Chinese company or companies would not likely provide the Iranian regime with detailed targeting information on a US military facility without clearing it first with Chinese government authorities.

And Washington had been warning Beijing about this problem long before those three Americans were killed. Senior US officials reportedly spent months telling their Chinese counterparts that Chinese companies were providing satellite imagery to Iran that Iran could use to target American personnel and military assets throughout the Middle East. In May, the Trump administration sanctioned three Chinese companies, Misarvision, EarthEye, and Changguan, saying their imagery could threaten US and allied forces. And then came the July 17th attack.

And what happened beforehand may help explain why Iran was suddenly becoming much more accurate. Earlier in the war, US strikes had degraded Iran's radar, satellites, and other surveillance capabilities. Officials noticed that Iranian missiles were often landing in areas with little to no military value, suggesting that Iran simply didn't have a very clear picture of what was happening inside American bases. But over the summer, that began to change. Iran's targeting improved. Fresh, high-resolution satellite imagery could show Tehran where aircraft had been moved, where new structures had appeared, where defensive systems were positioned, and where personnel might be concentrated. And imagery taken after an attack could tell Iran what it actually hit, allowing its military to assess the damage and adjust its next strike. The Chinese imagery also appears to be just one part of a much larger intelligence picture.

Chinese technology continues to show up elsewhere in Iran's military capabilities, including navigation services and components used in drones and missiles.

Obviously, American officials are concerned about where this may be heading next, because Iran isn't only firing at fixed American facilities. They're trying to hit US warships. In recent days, Iran has launched ballistic missiles at an American aircraft carrier and other Navy vessels operating in the region. CENTCOM says those attacks failed. But US officials told the Journal that some were close calls, and that Iran appears to be improving its ability to target ships that are moving. And officials are now examining whether Chinese capabilities may be helping Iran track those American naval assets.