A Chinese commercial intelligence firm has published detailed satellite imagery of US military deployments across the Middle East, raising questions about Beijing’s role in the escalating Iran tensions. MizarVision’s unusually precise posts show American forces massing in Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Greece as Washington considers possible action against Tehran.
The Shanghai-based company’s recent updates have revealed exact numbers and models of US aircraft at regional bases, along with positions of Patriot and THAAD air defence systems. One post noted a reduction in tanker aircraft at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, though anti-missile systems remain deployed at the facility that withstood an Iranian strike in June 2025.
MizarVision, founded in 2021 with $1.54 million in seed funding, describes itself as a geographic business intelligence firm using AI and satellite data to help clients discover information about areas of interest . But its detailed tracking of American forces comes as the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group arrives near the Middle East in what experts call the largest US military build-up in the region since 2003.
READ ALSO: https://modernmechanics24.com/post/neural-blueprint-human-like-soft-robots/
The timing is sensitive. US President Donald Trump has stated preference for diplomacy but vowed never to allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains its programme is peaceful and has threatened retaliation if attacked. Against this backdrop, a Chinese private company is publishing what looks like real-time order of battle intelligence.
Recent MizarVision imagery confirmed a US Army THAAD battery at Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and Patriot systems at Al Udeid . The company also tracks the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean and noted C-17 transport aircraft still crossing the Atlantic with supplies.
Dennis Wilder, a former senior US intelligence official now at Georgetown University, raised the unusual disclosures publicly. “What is Beijing’s purpose in allowing these photos to be published?” he asked. “Is it trying to prove its intelligence capabilities after the failure to detect the US extraction of [Nicolas] Maduro?”
Retired Chinese Colonel Yue Gang said such practices could “provide non-classified, low-threshold intelligence support services” for domestic institutions and represent “a beneficial exploration contributing to China’s development as an intelligence powerhouse” . Military commentator Song Zhongping viewed it differently, calling the monitoring “advertising” that “symbolises the strength of a nation and an enterprise”.
WATCH ALSO: https://modernmechanics24.com/post/drdo-akhash-ng-missile-trials-success/
The company previously released imagery of China’s Shandong aircraft carrier near the Philippines and provided Global Times with audio of PLA pilots challenging US aircraft over the Taiwan Strait .
We don’t know whether MizarVision operates independently or with official encouragement. The firm’s public posts stop short of classified material, using commercial satellite data legally available to anyone. But the strategic timing and precision suggest either remarkable commercial initiative or something more coordinated.
This episode highlights how commercial space technology blurs traditional lines between private business and state intelligence. China’s rapidly expanding satellite and AI capabilities now allow private firms to track US military movements with detail once reserved for government agencies, creating new dynamics as Washington and Tehran edge toward possible confrontation.
