A new debate has emerged over whether Iran is using China’s advanced Beidou satellite navigation system to target military installations in the Middle East belonging to Israel and the United States. According to a French intelligence expert, Iran may be receiving assistance from Beidou to improve its targeting accuracy.

Alain Juillet, former director of France’s foreign intelligence, stated on the independent French podcast ‘Tocsin’ that Iran’s targeting precision has significantly improved since a 12-day conflict with Israel in June. He suggested that this improvement could be linked to Iran gaining access to China’s Beidou satellite navigation network.

Experts cited in the report noted that if Iran is indeed using Beidou, it could challenge the long-standing U.S. dominance in real-time satellite intelligence on the battlefield.