Russia transfers intelligence data on American military facilities to Iran

According to three officials familiar with intelligence reports, Russia is providing Iran with information to identify targets for attacks on American forces in the Middle East. This includes data on the location of US military ships and aircraft.

The sources noted that since the war began on Saturday, Moscow has been providing Tehran with data on US military facilities in the region. One of the officials described these actions as large-scale.

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. Moscow has previously called for an end to the war, calling it an "unprovoked act of armed aggression."

Officials noted that Iran's ability to independently detect American forces was weakened during the first days of hostilities.

On Sunday, six American soldiers were killed and several others were wounded in an Iranian drone attack in Kuwait. According to sources, Iran launched thousands of attack drones and hundreds of missiles at American military positions, diplomatic facilities and civilian targets.

At the same time, a joint US-Israeli campaign struck more than 2,000 targets in Iran, including ballistic missile launchers, naval facilities and the country's leadership.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that "the Iranian regime is suffering devastating blows." According to her, the number of retaliatory ballistic attacks by Iran is decreasing every day, and the country's naval forces are suffering significant losses.

The US Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon declined to comment on reports of possible Russian assistance to Iran.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hagseth, responding to questions about Russia and China, said he had no specific message for those countries and that they were "not really a factor" in this conflict.

Two officials also reported that China, despite its close relations with Iran, is not currently providing assistance to its defence.

Experts note that the transfer of intelligence information may explain the accuracy of Iran's strikes on US targets. According to researcher Dara Massicot of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Iran's strikes are aimed at early warning radars, command and control systems, and other elements of command infrastructure.

Iran has only a limited number of military satellites and does not have its own satellite constellation, so information from Russian space systems could be of considerable value.

Nicole Graevsky of the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Centre said that Iranian strikes are highly accurate in both their choice of targets and their ability to overcome US and allied air defences in some cases.

According to sources, the Pentagon is rapidly depleting its stockpiles of precision-guided weapons and interceptor missiles used to counter missiles and drones.

The cooperation between Russia and Iran is seen in the broader context of Russia's war against Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2022. Throughout this conflict, Iran, China and North Korea have provided Russia with military or material support.

The United States, for its part, has provided Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in military aid and shared intelligence to improve the accuracy of strikes on Russian positions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously stated that the Donald Trump administration had asked Ukraine to help counter Iranian drones. According to him, Ukraine is ready to send specialists.

During the war in Ukraine, Iran transferred strike drone production technology to Russia, which was used to attack Ukrainian cities.

One official noted that Russia is well aware of the amount of assistance the US is providing to Ukraine and may view its support for Iran as a response to this.

Experts also note that the Kremlin may see certain benefits in the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, particularly through increased oil revenues and the distraction of Western attention from the war in Ukraine.

At the same time, according to Dara Massicot, Russia's lack of direct military involvement in the conflict may indicate that the Kremlin is focusing its main resources on the war against Ukraine.