The United States is investigating whether Russia provided Iran with targeting intelligence and advanced drone navigation technology that enabled precision strikes on CIA facilities in the Middle East, according to a Reuters report citing four security sources. The report adds that Moscow may have helped Iran improve Shahed-136 drone accuracy via the Kometa-M satellite navigation system, and that at least some CIA stations were hit, including in Riyadh and eastern Iraq.
The United States is investigating whether Russia provided critical intelligence and drone technology to Iran that enabled precision strikes on CIA facilities across the Middle East, according to a Reuters report Wednesday evening citing four security sources. The investigation examines whether Moscow supplied targeting data for selecting CIA stations and the Kometa-M satellite navigation system to improve the accuracy of Iran's Shahed-136 drones.
The report, which follows a preliminary Reuters dispatch at 21:36 Jerusalem, adds that at least some CIA stations were hit, including the embassy station in Riyadh and a station in eastern Iraq. Sources say Russia's involvement is plausible given its technical assistance to Iran and the unusual precision of the strikes. Concerns about Russian-Iranian intelligence cooperation have grown since a deadly drone attack on a US base in Jordan last weekend.
The Kometa-M system, said to be far more accurate and harder to jam than Iran's indigenous alternative, represents a significant escalation in Iran's strike capabilities. The investigation is ongoing; no conclusions have been publicly announced.
3 developments
- DevelopingReport: U.S. officials investigate whether China or Russia supplied Iran targeting data after precision strikes
- DevelopingUS intelligence tracking missile movements in western Iran, may act imminently
- DevelopingWall Street Journal: Iran adapted to US defenses, American officials flag possible Chinese, Russian targeting aid
- DevelopingFinancial Times: Gulf intelligence suspects Iran tracked US forces via cell phone data
Source and signal
- Internal intake