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A Reuters investigation published on 29 October 2026 describes what it calls a hidden network of more than 5,000 Iranian military-linked agencies that it says imported at least 2 billion dollars in hardware, explosives and heavy-duty trucks since January 2025, despite a United States naval blockade and Western sanctions. Drawing on records and import data, the report says the network helps explain how Iran has kept replenishing missile and drone stocks during a war that began in late February.

**A Network Hidden In Plain Sight**

Reuters says the agencies share names beginning with MOD, for the Ministry of Defense, a common Tehran address linked to the defence ministry, and a listed incorporation date of 11 February 1979. Most were established in 2013, it says, when sanctions were squeezing oil exports and the currency. Frontmen and foreign shell companies, described as trustees, are said to have used proceeds from illicit oil sales to buy goods abroad, with 97 percent of shipments reviewed settled without a currency transfer. One agency, MOD 346428, is reported to have imported 2.3 billion dollars of military hardware between January 2025 and June 2026, including rocket propellants, explosives, weapons components and trucks that can serve as launchers, much of it recorded as originating in China, Russia and Germany. Reuters notes much of the material can be dual-use, with possible civilian purposes.

**What Happens Next**

The investigation says none of the numbered agencies it identified had been designated by Western governments, according to its checks, and that Iranian government entities contacted did not respond to requests for comment. A United States Treasury spokeswoman told Reuters the United States had severed the regime's economic lifelines, while China's Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of the situation described. If the findings stand up to further scrutiny, they suggest sanctions enforcement, not only battlefield action, will be central to whether Iran can sustain its missile and drone campaigns.

Sources: Reuters investigation; Reuters Energy Watch (context).