Has Russia helped Iran target CIA sites in the Gulf? - Al Jazeera

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that a meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Manila on Thursday, held on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit, took place amid renewed scrutiny of whether Russia has assisted Iran in targeting US-linked sites in the Gulf. The article said Ukraine was the formal focus of the talks, but recent reporting has raised questions about Moscow’s possible role in Iranian attacks on US military and intelligence facilities in the Middle East.

According to Al Jazeera, early reports during the US and Israel’s war on Iran included a Washington Post account that a CIA station at the US embassy in Riyadh had been targeted, and a CNN report citing US intelligence sources that Russia had helped Iran locate US personnel and aircraft in the Gulf. Al Jazeera also cited Reuters as reporting that Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities, including at the embassy in Saudi Arabia, led US intelligence officials to examine possible Russian involvement because of the strikes’ apparent precision.

Nicole Grajewski of Sciences Po told Al Jazeera that Russian involvement was a plausible theory, arguing that some Iranian attacks appeared more advanced than earlier operations and noting Russia’s stronger space-based capabilities. She also cautioned that Iran has its own human intelligence networks and established drone and missile forces, meaning any Russian assistance would likely enhance rather than create Iran’s capabilities.

The report placed the issue within a broader deepening of Russia-Iran defence ties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including Iranian weapons support for Moscow and a long-term strategic partnership treaty. Al Jazeera noted, however, that Russia has denied some reports of technical assistance and that a Russian official previously said the treaty did not amount to a military alliance or mutual defence pact.