Washington is investigating whether Russia assisted Iran during attacks on CIA offices in the Middle East. The CIA suspects that Russian special services may have provided Iran with information about the locations of American targets in the region, including CIA facilities.
According to Reuters, citing anonymous American sources, US intelligence is currently verifying whether Iran received assistance from Moscow during drone attacks on CIA offices, particularly in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. US suspicions of possible Russian involvement stem from the effectiveness and precision of the attacks on these top-secret facilities. However, direct evidence has not yet been found by American intelligence.
Possible Russian support for Iran
Previously, during the conflict between the United States and Iran, American officials suggested that Russia might be helping Tehran locate American targets. The Wall Street Journal reported in mid-March, three weeks after the first American-Israeli strikes on Iran, that Russia was supplying its ally with satellite images and advanced equipment for drones and navigation, which aided Tehran in locating and attacking American targets in the Middle East. The Washington Post also reported in early March that Iran received assistance from Russia during attacks on critical American facilities, including air defense radars in certain Persian Gulf countries and Jordan.
Moscow may have supplied the Iranians with the Kometa-M satellite navigation system, which significantly enhances the accuracy of Iranian Shahed drones compared to standard Iranian equipment and improves their resistance to American electronic warfare systems. At that time, the Kremlin dismissed claims of Russian assistance to Iran as “fake news”.
Russia and Iran have been long-standing allies. In the initial years following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Tehran provided Moscow with substantial military support, primarily by supplying Shahed drones. These drones are regularly deployed in large numbers to strike targets in Ukraine. Currently, Russia produces them on a large scale, and they have become a primary means of attack in the war against Ukraine. Iran is now also using its own Shahed drones against targets in the Middle East, primarily American military bases in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Iraq.
Attacks on CIA offices and American bases
The CIA investigation into possible Russian involvement primarily focuses on targeted attacks on the agency’s offices. In March, at least two CIA offices were struck by Iranian drones. One is located in the American embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the other is in eastern Iraq, according to Reuters. Other CIA offices may have also been attacked, but details have not yet been disclosed.
The attack on the CIA office in the American embassy in Riyadh received particular attention because, according to Reuters, it was executed by two Iranian drones that struck the embassy building consecutively, targeting the CIA office directly. The first drone created a hole in the building, and the second flew through it and exploded. At that time, Washington did not report any casualties or injuries.
The question of possible Russian involvement in the Iranian attacks remains pertinent. Last Friday, two American servicemen were killed in an Iranian missile strike on the barracks of an American military base in Jordan. According to MilitarySpend, between eighteen and twenty American servicemen have been killed in the conflict with Iran so far.
President Trump did not place much significance on reports of possible Russian assistance to Iran against American military facilities in March. “I think he [Putin] might be helping them a little, yes,” Trump said. “He probably thinks we are helping Ukraine, right?” The CIA is the main foreign intelligence service of the United States, with stations in strategically important locations, embedded in American embassies, as well as a network of carefully classified facilities worldwide.
Source: NRC
