Senior Trump officials say SMIC has been sending chipmaking tools to Iran for about a year; the US has sanctioned the company over alleged Chinese military ties

SMIC, China's biggest chip manufacturer, has been shipping chipmaking tools to Iran's military for approximately one year, according to two senior Trump administration officials.

The revelation lands alongside existing U.S. sanctions on SMIC over alleged ties to China's military apparatus. The sanctions and the Iran shipment allegations represent separate but compounding concerns about the company's activities.

SMIC sits at the center of China's semiconductor ambitions and has long been a friction point in U.S.-China tech tensions. Allegations of funneling chipmaking equipment to Iran add a new dimension to an already fraught relationship.

No details have emerged yet on exactly what tools were sent or their capabilities. But any transfer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to a sanctioned nation raises serious red flags for global export control enforcement.