Russia is providing intelligence to Iran about US positions in the Middle East amid ongoing US-Israel tensions military operations in Iranmultiple sources, including a senior U.S. official with direct knowledge, told CBS News on Friday.
The Kremlin’s sharing of information about US assets is the first known sign that Russia, the US’s arch-enemy, is indirectly helping Iran. The intelligence assistance from Russia was first reported by the Washington Post.
The White House did not directly comment on Russia’s involvement, telling CBS News that “the Iranian regime is being completely crushed.”
“Their ballistic missile retaliation is shrinking every day, their navy is being decimated, their manufacturing capacity is being destroyed, and their proxies are unable to fight back,” said Anna Kelly, deputy White House press secretary, in a statement. “Operation Epic Fury is meeting or exceeding all of its goals, and the United States will continue to dominate.”
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt, when asked during an appearance on Fox News about Russia providing intelligence to Iran with American assets, said she could not comment on “intelligence reports leaked to the media.”
“Whether this happened or not, in fact, it doesn’t matter, because President Trump and the American military completely eliminated the terrorist regime in Iran,” he said.
Later, Leavitt clarified to reporters that he meant that Russia sharing intelligence on US assets with Iran “doesn’t matter” because it “obviously makes no difference in terms of military operations in Iran, because we’re eliminating it completely.”
Earlier on Friday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Russian government was “in talks” with representatives of the Iranian leadership. Peskov’s comments, his only remarks regarding Iran at his Friday briefing, came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Russia and China were helping Iran politically and in other ways.
Peskov declined to comment to the Post when asked about the intelligence findings.
The CIA declined to comment on Russian intelligence sharing.
Earlier this week when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked by reporters what message he had for Russia and China, two of Iran’s most powerful supporters, he said he had none, adding that they “are not really a thing here.”
Moscow and Tehran have expanded their military cooperation since 2022 in Russia invasion of Ukraine. Iran has provided Russia with Shahed attack drones that have been widely used to attack Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, according to US officials. Tehran has helped Moscow create a center inside Russia for the production of drones designed in Iran at home.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week in a post on X that the US has asked for help from Ukraine protecting the Gulf countries from Iranian drone strikes, saying he gave instructions to “provide the necessary means and ensure the presence of Ukrainian experts who can ensure the necessary security.”
The US has been conducting three-way peace talks between Ukraine and Russia that have not achieved success so far.
Until now, six US soldiers were killed in a military raid the Trump administration called Operation Epic Fury. They died there The Iranian strike has reached the center of strategic operations where they were working in Kuwait.
All six were members of the US Army Reserve unit based in Des Moines, Iowa. President Trump is expected to attend a dignified send-off for those service members once they are returned to the United States.
