The U.S. is investigating Russia's possible role in Iran's attacks on CIA facilities
U.S. intelligence is investigating whether Russia, an aggressor state, helped Iran carry out drone attacks on U.S. Central Intelligence Agency facilities in the Persian Gulf region. This was reported by “European Truth,” citing Reuters, which received the information from four individuals familiar with the activities of U.S. intelligence agencies.
According to the agency’s sources, U.S. intelligence has not yet reached any final conclusions regarding Russia’s possible involvement. They cited the effectiveness and apparent precision of the strikes, as well as the broader technical support Russia provides to Iran, as possible evidence of Moscow’s assistance.
Reuters and other media outlets had previously reported that Russia provided Iran with target data and other support during the attacks on U.S. facilities in the Persian Gulf region. U.S. officials have confirmed this information. However, details of a separate investigation into possible Russian support for attacks specifically targeting CIA facilities had not been made public previously.
In March, at least two CIA facilities were attacked: one in Saudi Arabia and the other in eastern Iraq. Some sources also claimed that other CIA facilities were attacked, but no details were disclosed. One source estimated the number of targeted facilities as “more than one and fewer than ten.”
An internal memo from one of the Western intelligence services noted that Russia likely played a role in the attacks on regional CIA facilities. Two Western officials in the Persian Gulf, familiar with the intelligence reports, said analysts believe that two Russian-modified versions of Iranian Shahed drones were used in the attack on a facility in Saudi Arabia.
According to Reuters sources, Russia helped Iran improve the Shahed drones’ ability to hit targets. In particular, according to one of the sources, Tehran was provided with the “Kometa-M” satellite navigation system to improve the accuracy of the Shahed-136. Experts consider this system to be more accurate and more resistant to jamming than its Iranian counterparts.
