Senator Slotkin urges Trump to demand China halt satellite aid to Iran

Senator Elissa Slotkin sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to confront Chinese President Xi Jinping about evidence that Iran relied on Chinese satellite imagery to strike the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan in July. The attack killed Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan and Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, and wounded four others.

Slotkin referenced a report that three Chinese firms—Meentropy Technology, The Earth Eye and Chang Guang Satellite Technology—had supplied high-resolution images before and after the assault. She noted the Trump administration’s May sanctions on those companies and argued that the provision of targeting data should be a central issue in the upcoming White House summit on Sept. 24. Slotkin criticized Trump’s prior remarks praising Xi and warned that failure to halt Chinese support could have further consequences for U.S. forces. The senator, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, called for an unequivocal message that Chinese assistance must end immediately.