Illustration of missile components on a workshop bench at dusk, representing the Houthi Kheibar Shekan missile parts report

Houthi Kheibar Shekan Missile Built With Chinese Parts, Report Says

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Yemen’s Houthi movement has imported parts from a Chinese supplier to build its own version of Iran’s Kheibar Shekan missile, according to Conflict Armament Research (CAR) data reported by The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 13, 2026. A Houthi Kheibar Shekan missile would have a maximum range of about 1,200 miles, the Journal reported, which would put all of Saudi Arabia and Israel within reach.

The findings rest on information Yemeni authorities provided in July after officials intercepted two shipments in 2025. The missile equipment was hidden among a range of other goods, according to the report as relayed by The Jerusalem Post.

What the Seized Shipments Contained

The intercepted cargo included custom-made metal missile components, among them parts of the motor and of the airframe, the missile’s basic structure. Yemeni authorities also found stabilizing fins and parts of a solid-propellant rocket motor from a Kheibar Shekan-series missile, according to the report.

Beyond finished parts, the shipments carried tools, testing equipment and raw materials, including ablative material, which shields sections of a ballistic missile from the intense heat of flight. Some of the imported items could have civilian uses, but others were designed specifically for missile production, the report said. Shipping documents identified a Chinese precision-metal producer that the report did not name, i24NEWS reported.

How Far Houthi Missile Production Has Gone

CAR has not said the Houthis are already turning out complete missiles. “When you have imports like that, there is a possibility that they are already manufacturing or that they are trying and it doesn’t really work out,” Fabian Hinz, a senior analyst at CAR, told the Journal. He said the group’s weapons facilities are so well camouflaged that it is unclear how far production has progressed.

The new data builds on earlier CAR fieldwork. In a previous report, the group said its investigators had documented more than 800 missile and drone components recovered in maritime seizures in the Red Sea in 2024 and 2025, and that the material showed a continuing supply of Iranian-origin hardware to the Houthis.

The Kheibar Shekan is a solid-fuel, medium-range ballistic missile. U.S. officials said in July that Iran’s version has a range of at least 1,400 kilometers and has been used in strikes on U.S. assets across the Middle East, the Journal reported at the time. Unlike older Iranian missiles that must be fueled shortly before launch, it can be kept fueled and loaded quickly onto trucks, which military experts said makes launchers harder for aircraft to find and destroy.

China’s Position and the Sanctions Record

China says it is respecting the United Nations arms embargo on the Houthis, according to the report. The group is also designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, a step the State Department took on March 5, 2025.

Washington has repeatedly targeted China-based companies it accuses of supplying the Houthis. On Sept. 11, 2025, the U.S. Treasury designated 32 individuals and entities in what it called its largest Houthi-related sanctions action. Among them were Hubei Chica Industrial, which Treasury said supplied bulk chemical precursors used to make ballistic missiles and explosives in Yemen and helped falsify shipping documents, and Shanxi Shutong Import and Export Trade, which Treasury said shipped chemicals that Houthi operatives use to manufacture ballistic missile motors. Treasury also named Shenzhen Shengnan Trading, which it said sent dual-use electronics used to build drones while mislabeling shipments.

Why It Matters for Saudi Arabia and the Region

The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have fought the Saudi-backed Yemeni government since 2014. That conflict resumed as a spillover from the wider U.S.-Iran war that began with the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on Feb. 28, according to The Jerusalem Post. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that Tehran had offered to mediate between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

The fighting has escalated in recent days. Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on Houthi sites in Sanaa on Tuesday, alongside reported strikes in Hodeidah and Ras Issa, i24NEWS reported. The Houthis claimed an overnight attack with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones on Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran, Aramco’s Riyadh refinery and King Khalid Airport, and the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile headed toward Riyadh.

For background on the airport campaign, see our reports on the Riyadh airport attack and on how Houthi strikes on Saudi airports have put new pressure on Washington.

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