Two Iranian cargo vessels carrying a chemical ingredient for missile propellant will sail from China to Iran over the next several weeks, security officials in Western countries told the Financial Times.

The ships, the Golbon and the Jairan, are expected to carry 1,000 tons of sodium perchlorate, which is used to make ammonium perchlorate, the main ingredient for solid propellant for missiles, the Times reported.

The sodium perchlorate could produce 960 tons of ammonium perchlorate which could produce 1,300 tons of propellant, enough to fuel 260 midrange Iranian missiles, officials told the Times.

Sources told the Times the chemicals were loaded on to the Golbon at Taicang, a port just north of Shanghai, and were destined for Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran on the Persian Gulf.

The chemicals are being shipped to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's military unit. The Golban departed for Iran on Tuesday, while the Jairan is set to sail in early February with the journey taking three weeks, the Times reported.

Officials said it was unknown if China was aware of the shipments. The Chinese Embassy told the Times it was not familiar with the situation but said the county is committed to "maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East and Gulf region and actively promoting the political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue."

The U.S. had previously criticized China for buying Iranian oil and called for it to stop the shipment of items to Russia that assisted its war with Ukraine, the Times reported.

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