NEW YORK (VINnews) — More than a year before Israel launched Operation Roaring Lion, Iran secretly bought a Chinese surveillance satellite that was later used to help target U.S. military bases across the Middle East during the recent war, according to a Financial Times report on Wednesday.

Citing leaked Iranian military documents, the newspaper said that the TEE-01B satellite, built and launched by the Chinese company Earth Eye Co., was purchased by the air force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in late 2024.

According to the report, Iranian military commanders directed the satellite to monitor key U.S. military sites. The Financial Times said the leaked material included lists of coordinates with time stamps, satellite imagery and orbital analysis.

The images were taken in March, before and after missile and drone strikes on those locations, the report said. Among the sites photographed was Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 13, 14 and 15, the same days President Donald Trump confirmed that U.S. aircraft had been hit there.

The satellite also tracked U.S. bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq, the report said, with particular attention to the times when attacks took place at those sites.

As part of the deal with the Chinese company, the Revolutionary Guards also received access to commercial ground stations operated by Emposat, a Beijing-based provider of satellite control and data services whose network extends across Asia, Latin America and other regions, according to the report.