Russia is reportedly helping Iran target CIA facilities in the Gulf — the predictable consequence of Washington's endless entanglements dragging adversaries into coordination against American assets.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Manila Thursday, officially to discuss Ukraine. But the real shadow over the meeting: fresh reports that Moscow is actively assisting Tehran in locating and striking U.S. intelligence personnel and sites in the Middle East.
According to Al Jazeera, CNN reported in March that Moscow was helping Tehran locate U.S. personnel and aircraft in the Gulf. Reuters now reports that Iranian drone strikes on CIA facilities — specifically the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia — were precise and effective enough that U.S. intelligence is investigating Russian involvement. A CIA station in the Riyadh embassy was targeted early in the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, according to the Washington Post.
Nicole Grajewski, a Sciences Po researcher, told Al Jazeera the theory is "realistic" because Iran's recent attacks were "far more advanced than what they've done before." Iran lacks sufficient military-grade satellites for precision targeting. Russia has that capability. "It seems likely that they struck some kind of deal with the Russians," Grajewski said.
And no wonder. The Ukraine war fused these two powers together. Tehran provided Moscow with Shahed drones and Fateh-110 ballistic missiles for Putin's war. Last year, they signed a 20-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko insisted to the State Duma this doesn't constitute a "military alliance" — but the precision strikes on CIA sites tell a different story.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is escalating on its own front, shifting from oil refineries to Russia's domestic logistics infrastructure. CNBC reports Ukrainian forces struck five facilities belonging to Wildberries — Russia's equivalent of Amazon, employing 48,000 people — in less than a week. Owner Tatyana Kim confirmed attacks on logistics hubs killed one person overnight and eight in an earlier strike. President Zelenskyy claimed the hubs supplied Russian forces with drone components and military equipment.
Serhii Kuzan of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center told CNBC the Wildberries marketplace accounts for roughly 3% of Russia's GDP, with estimated losses reaching $2.3 billion — exceeding the combined annual budgets of 53 Russian regions.
So the picture comes into focus: Russia and Iran are deep in a mutual-aid arrangement born of Western pressure. Iran armed Russia's Ukraine campaign; Russia is now apparently returning the favor by helping Iran put crosshairs on American intelligence officers. Ukraine, meanwhile, is hitting Russian civilian logistics and calling it military targeting.
Every new commitment Washington makes in the Middle East gives Moscow and Tehran reason to tighten coordination. The bill for decades of intervention is coming due — and it's American personnel in the Gulf who are paying it.
