Russia and Iran have cooperated in defence issues amid the war in Ukraine [Getty]
Russia has been giving Iran information to help it target US forces in the Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing three anonymous intelligence officials.
According to the report, Russia has given Iran intelligence regarding the location of US warships, aircraft, and other military assets since the US-Israeli war on Iran began last Saturday.
Russia has previously condemned the war on Iran as an “unprovoked act of armed aggression”.
Last Sunday, six US troops were killed in an Iranian drone attack on Kuwait, and Iran has continued to launch missiles and drones at US military positions in Gulf countries, amid relentless US and Israeli attacks on Iranian cities and military sites that have killed over 1,300 people.
However, the intelligence officials told The Washington Post that the Iranian military’s ability to target US troops had been “degraded”.
The US claims that it has diminished Iran’s ability to launch ballistic missiles and destroyed Iran’s navy.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this week that Russia and China, which has also previously backed Iran, were “not really a factor” in the US-Israeli war on the country, and the officials cited by the Washington Post said that China was not providing assistance to Tehran.
Dara Massicot, a Russia specialist from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told The Washington Post that the precision of Iran’s targeting of US military assets suggested that it was receiving intelligence assistance from Russia.
Iran, she said, was “making very precise hits on early warning radars or over-the-horizon radars… they’re doing this in a very targeted way. They’re going after command and control”
The targeting suggested that Russia was providing Iran with satellite images, Massicot added. Iran has a few satellites of its own but Russia’s space presence is much more advanced.
Iran has previously provided Russia with drones in its war against Ukraine, and the reported Russian assistance to Iran suggested that the countries were cooperating against the US.
Russia, according to the Washington Post, has seen opportunities in the US war on Iran, including increased demand for Russian oil and gas amid disruption to supplies from the Gulf.
However it is fearful that the pro-Russian government in Iran could fall, as happened in Syria in 2024, curtailing Moscow’s global influence.
But Massicot said that Moscow’s top priority is the conflict in Ukraine, and was still “very much considering this is not their problem and not their war.”
