Arabic version: تقارير تبحث احتمال دور روسي في ضربات إيران بالخليج

According to Al Jazeera, US intelligence is investigating possible Russian involvement after Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities, including the US embassy in Saudi Arabia. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the precision and effectiveness of the strikes had raised questions over whether Moscow provided support.

Reports of Iranian attacks on CIA-linked sites emerged early in the US and Israel’s war on Iran. The Washington Post reported on March 3 that a CIA station at the US embassy in Riyadh had been targeted, citing two people familiar with the matter. CNN reported on March 6, citing US intelligence sources, that Russia had helped Tehran locate US personnel and aircraft in the Gulf.

Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at the Centre of International Research at Sciences Po in Paris, told Al Jazeera that Russian involvement was a “realistic” theory. She said Iran lacks Russia’s space-based capabilities and military-grade satellite capacity, while also noting that Tehran has human intelligence networks that are often overlooked in assessments of its targeting.

Moscow and Tehran have expanded military relations since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Iran supplied Russia with Shahed drones and Fateh-110 ballistic missiles, and the countries last year signed a 20-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty intended to increase defence cooperation. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said at the time that the agreement did not establish a military alliance or mutual military assistance.

Grajewski said Iran’s own drone and missile capabilities remain more significant to the course of the conflict than possible Russian intelligence assistance. US strikes on Iran continued for a 12th consecutive night on Thursday, including an attack on the Shalamcheh crossing on the Iraq border that killed at least two people. Iran has struck multiple Gulf countries and Jordan in recent days.