REPORT: Russia Gave Iran Information To Assist Goal U.S. Navy
Russia has reportedly provided Iran with information that could help the regime target U.S. military assets across the Middle East, a development that adds a dangerous new layer to a war that is already widening by the day.
U.S. intelligence officials believe Moscow passed along information that could be used against American warships, aircraft and other military positions in the region. The officials told The Associated Press there is no indication Russia is directly ordering Tehran how to use the information, but the disclosure still marks the clearest sign yet that Moscow may be trying to assist Iran as the conflict intensifies.
The report lands as U.S. and Israeli forces continue pounding Iranian targets and as Tehran keeps launching retaliatory attacks against American positions and U.S. partners in the Gulf.
The White House believes the United States is “well on its way” toward controlling Iranian airspace and expects its core military objectives could be completed within four to six weeks. President Donald Trump has also taken a harder public line, demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender” as the campaign moves deeper into its second week.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt brushed aside the significance of the Russia-Iran intelligence report when pressed by reporters on Friday. “It clearly is not making any difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating them,” Leavitt said.
She declined to say whether Trump had discussed the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin or whether the administration was considering consequences for Moscow. AP also reported that when asked whether the intelligence-sharing revelation had damaged Trump’s confidence in Putin’s ability to help broker peace in Ukraine, Leavitt maintained that peace between Russia and Ukraine remains possible.
The Kremlin, for its part, did not exactly clear the air. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Iran had not asked Russia for military assistance, while also making clear that Moscow remains in active contact with Iranian leadership. When asked directly whether Russia had offered military or intelligence help since the war began, Peskov declined to answer, according to the report.
“We are in dialogue with the Iranian side, with representatives of the Iranian leadership, and will certainly continue this dialogue,” Peskov said Friday.
That ambiguity matters because Russia and Iran have grown much closer in recent years. Their relationship deepened after Moscow turned to Tehran for drones and missiles to sustain its war effort in Ukraine. U.S. officials had previously declassified intelligence showing Iran supplied Russia with attack drones and helped it build drone manufacturing capacity, while the prior administration also accused Tehran of transferring short-range ballistic missiles to the Kremlin.
In other words, the alleged intelligence-sharing now being reported would fit into a pattern of military cooperation between the two anti-Western powers.
The battlefield picture inside Iran is also growing darker. JP reported Friday that Iran’s U.N. ambassador said at least 1,332 civilians have been killed so far in the war. Separate reporting from Al Jazeera described especially heavy bombardment in Tehran on Friday, with residential areas and other civilian sites reportedly among the locations hit. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes also hit Lebanon as the campaign spilled farther across the region.