Russia providing Iran intel on US positions–sources
WASHINGTON—Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region, according to two officials familiar with US intelligence on the matter.
But the unnamed officials, who were not authorized to comment on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, emphasized that US intelligence has not uncovered that Russia is also directing Iran on what to do with the information
Details about the US intelligence first reported by The Washington Post are the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war, which now marks its first week since the United States and Israel launched their strike on Iran on Feb. 28.
On Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said US President Donald Trump’s demand for Iran’s unconditional surrender is a “dream that they should take to their grave.”
But Pezeshkian also apologized for Iran’s attacks on regional countries, even as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates continued to be targeted by Iranian fire until Saturday morning.
The fighting has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. Six US troops have been killed.
Trump ‘well aware’
Russia is in the rare club of countries that maintain friendly relations with Tehran—which has faced years of isolation over its nuclear program—and support proxy groups that have wreaked havoc in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.
The White House downplayed reports of Russia sharing intelligence, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview on Friday, said the United States is “tracking everything” and factoring it into battle plans.
“The American people can rest assured their commander in chief is well aware of who’s talking to whom,” he said. “And anything that shouldn’t be happening, whether it’s in public or back-channeled, is being confronted and confronted strongly.”
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to say if Trump had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin or if he believed Russia should face repercussions, saying she would let the president speak to that himself.
Russia ‘in dialogue’
Asked whether Russia would go beyond political support and offer military assistance, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there has been no such request from Tehran.
“We are in dialogue with the Iranian side, with representatives of the Iranian leadership, and will certainly continue this dialogue,” he said on Friday.
Pushed on whether Moscow has provided any military or intelligence assistance to Tehran since the Iran war’s start, he refrained from comment.
Russia has tightened its relationship with Iran as it looked for badly needed missiles and drones to utilize in its four-year war against Ukraine.
The administration of then US president Joe Biden had declassified intelligence findings that showed Iran supplied Moscow with attack drones and had assisted the Kremlin with building a drone-manufacturing factory.
The Biden administration had also accused Iran of transferring short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s expertise
Asked whether the revelation had shaken Trump’s faith in Putin’s ability to cut any peace deal regarding Ukraine, Leavitt said: “I think the president would say that peace is still an achievable objective with respect to the Russia-Ukraine war.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones. Tehran is now utilizing in its retaliatory attacks the Shaheds it had supplied to Russia for its war on Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said he had spoken to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation.
“Ukraine knows how to defend against Shahed drone attacks because our cities have faced them almost every night,” said Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna. “When our partners are in need, we are always ready to help.”
Trump, who has struggled to fulfill a campaign pledge to end the Russia-Ukraine war, has had an up-and-down relationship with Zelenskyy, whom he had frequently pressured to heed Russian demands, including that Kyiv concede Ukrainian territory still in its control.
******
Get real-time news updates: inqnews.net/inqviber
