The Pentagon claims that the US military is monitoring Russian-Iranian operations amid increasing conflict in the region.
Washington has rejected reports that Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran about United States targets in the Middle East amid the escalating US-Israeli war over Iran, as first reported by The Washington Post.
Asked about those reports, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview on Friday that the US is “looking at everything” and incorporating it into war plans.
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Three officials told The Washington Post on condition of anonymity that since the war began on February 28, Russia has passed on to Iran the locations of US military assets, including warships and aircraft.
“It looks like it’s quite a massive effort,” a source told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, unnamed officials told the Associated Press news agency that US intelligence has not disclosed whether Russia is instructing Iran on what to do with the information, as the US and Israel continue bombing and Iran retaliating against US assets and allies in the Gulf.
While Hegseth said the United States is “not concerned” about the reports, he also downplayed the possibility that Russia’s aid could harm American citizens.
“The American people can rest assured that their commander-in-chief knows exactly who is talking to whom,” Hegseth said.
“And whatever should not happen, whether publicly or indirectly, is being faced firmly.”
He added: “We are putting other people in danger, and that’s our job. So we’re not worried about it. But the people who need to be worried right now are the Iranians who think they’ll survive.”
White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt also claimed to reporters on Friday that “(the report) is clearly not making any difference with respect to military operations in Iran because we are completely destroying them.”
Levitt declined to say whether Trump had talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the alleged intelligence sharing or whether she believed Russia should face consequences, saying she would let the president talk about it himself.
First signs of Moscow’s involvement
Trump, for his part, rebuked a reporter for raising the issue Friday evening when he opened the floor to media questions at the end of a White House meeting on how paying student-athletes has restructured college sports.
“I have a lot of respect for you, you’ve always been very good to me,” the US president told Fox News reporter Peter Doocy.
“What a stupid question to ask at this time. We should be talking about something else.”
The intelligence is the first sign that Moscow is trying to join the war that the US and Israel launched on Iran a week ago.
Asked whether Russia would go beyond political support and offer military assistance to Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there had been no such request from Tehran.
“We are in dialogue with the Iranian side, with representatives of the Iranian leadership, and will certainly continue this dialogue,” he said on Friday.
When asked whether Moscow has provided any military or intelligence assistance to Tehran since the start of the Iran war, he avoided comment.
Russia has tightened its ties with Iran as it seeks vital missiles and drones to use in its four-year war against Ukraine. But the pair have long maintained friendly relations, while Tehran has faced years of isolation from the West over its nuclear program and support for proxy groups in the Middle East.
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