Russia is providing intelligence to Iran regarding U.S. positions during the ongoing military operation, three sources, including a senior U.S. official with direct knowledge, told CBS News on Friday.
The intelligence assistance is the first known assistance Russia is giving to Iran, as the U.S. and Israel continue to strike at the Iranian regime and its military capabilities. The intelligence aid from Russia was first reported by the Washington Post.
Earlier Friday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia’s government is in “dialogue” with representatives of the Iranian leadership. Peskov’s comments, his only remarks in relation to Iran at his Friday briefing, came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Russia and China were assisting Iran politically and “in other ways.”
Peskov declined to comment to the Post when asked about the intelligence findings.
The White House did not directly comment on Russia’s involvement, telling CBS News that “the Iranian regime is being absolutely crushed.”
“Their ballistic missile retaliation is decreasing every day, their navy is being wiped out, their production capacity is being demolished, and proxies are hardly putting up a fight. Operation Epic Fury is meeting or surpassing all of its goals, and the United States will continue to dominate,” Anna Kelly, White House principal deputy press secretary, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked during an appearance on Fox News about Russia providing intelligence to Iran on U.S. assets, said she could not comment on “intelligence reports that are leaked to the press.”
“Whether or not this happened, frankly, it doesn’t really matter, because President Trump and the United States military are absolutely decimating the rogue Iranian terrorist regime,” she added.
Later she told reporters, “It clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran, because we are completely decimating them.”
So far, six U.S. troops have been killed in the military offensive the Trump administration is calling Operation Epic Fury. They died when an Iranian strike hit a tactical operations center where they were working in Kuwait. All six were members of a U.S. Army Reserve unit based in Des Moines, Iowa.
President Trump is expected to attend the dignified transfer of those service members when they are returned to the United States.
