Iran has created a secret network of military agencies with a global reach to import at least $2 billion in hardware, explosives and heavy trucks since January 2025, evading both the U.S. naval blockade and Western sanctions, a Reuters investigation has found. Behind the names beginning with the letters MOD, of the Ministry of Defense, are hidden more than 5,000 agencies that create a formidable financial and military machine. Their financial footprints have been found on bills of lading and other shipping data since 2016. Some are linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and business conglomerates known as Boniads controlled by the Iranian elite. The findings offer a window into one of the great mysteries of the wars: how does the Revolutionary Guards fill its missile and UAV warehouses while shooting them by the thousands? In the 18 months from January 2025 to June 2026—including four months into this year's war—one of these agencies, MOD 346428, imported massive amounts of rocket fuel, explosives, and weapon components critical to the production of UAVs and missiles, as well as heavy rocket launchers that could be used as missile launchers. The hardware arrived by land, sea and air - much of it is documented as originating in China, Russia and Germany. This investigation of the MOD network is based on thousands of Iranian bank and government records, corporate documents and import data. Watch X.

Iran has created a secret network of military agencies with a global reach to import at least $2 billion in hardware, explosives and heavy trucks since January 2025, evading both the U.S. naval blockade and Western sanctions, a Reuters investigation has found. Behind the names beginning with the letters MOD, of the Ministry of Defense, are hidden more than 5,000 agencies that create a formidable financial and military machine. Their financial footprints have been found on bills of lading and other shipping data since 2016. Some are linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and business conglomerates known as Boniads controlled by the Iranian elite. The findings offer a window into one of the great mysteries of the wars: how does the Revolutionary Guards fill its missile and UAV warehouses while shooting them by the thousands? In the 18 months from January 2025 to June 2026—including four months into this year's war—one of these agencies, MOD 346428, imported massive amounts of rocket fuel, explosives, and weapon components critical to the production of UAVs and missiles, as well as heavy rocket launchers that could be used as missile launchers. The hardware arrived by land, sea and air - much of it is documented as originating in China, Russia and Germany. This investigation of the MOD network is based on thousands of Iranian bank and government records, corporate documents and import data. Watch X.