U.S. intelligence analysts are investigating whether Russia helped Iran carry out a series of drone attacks against CIA facilities in the Middle East, including by providing targeting information or advanced technology that improved the weapons’ accuracy.
American intelligence officials have not reached a firm conclusion about Moscow’s possible involvement. Four people familiar with the intelligence said analysts are examining the precision of the attacks, Russia’s broader military support for Iran, and the limited number of countries capable of identifying covert CIA sites.
At least two CIA facilities were struck in March. One was the agency’s station inside the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The other was located in eastern Iraq. Some sources said additional sites were hit but declined to provide their locations or other details.
Intelligence memo points to Russia
An internal memo prepared by an unidentified Western intelligence agency concluded that Russia likely played a role in helping target CIA facilities in the region, according to an official who had access to the document.
Two Western officials briefed on intelligence reports said the Riyadh attack appeared to involve two Russian-enhanced versions of Iran’s Shahed drones.
The first drone reportedly punched a hole through a vulnerable section of the embassy’s exterior. A second drone then flew through the opening and detonated inside. No deaths or injuries were reported.
The effectiveness of the attack has raised questions about whether Tehran knew precisely where the CIA station was located or merely struck it while aiming at the embassy complex more broadly.
That distinction remains unresolved.
Russia helped improve Iranian drones
Western officials said Russia has helped Iran improve the range and accuracy of its Shahed drones, weapons Tehran has used extensively during the conflict.
One source said Moscow supplied Iran with the Kometa-M satellite navigation system, which is considered more precise and more resistant to electronic jamming than Iran’s domestically produced equipment. Analysts suspect upgraded Shahed-136 drones equipped with the Russian technology may have been used in Riyadh.
The Kremlin previously denied supplying the navigation technology, dismissing an earlier report as “fake news.”
Russia has also shared information about the locations of American military ships and aircraft in the Middle East, according to U.S. officials cited in a separate Wall Street Journal report. The intelligence did not establish that Moscow provided the coordinates specifically for Iranian attacks, but one official said that was a reasonable explanation for the information sharing.
CIA sites are closely guarded secrets
CIA stations are typically housed inside U.S. embassies, but the agency also maintains a network of safe houses, logistics hubs, surveillance facilities, and other covert sites overseas.
The locations of those facilities are among the intelligence community’s most closely guarded secrets.
According to the report, several officials involved in the intelligence review believe few countries other than Russia possess both the technical capability to identify those locations and a strategic interest in helping Iran target them. Other officials cautioned that the available evidence remains circumstantial and that the CIA station in Riyadh may have been struck by chance rather than through actionable intelligence.
The CIA declined to comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations, Russia’s Defense Ministry, and the Saudi government did not respond to requests for comment.
The allegations also surfaced as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Thursday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila.
Reporters asked Rubio whether he would raise reports that Russia may have provided intelligence to Iran to assist in targeting U.S. personnel and facilities in the Middle East. Lavrov, meanwhile, faced questions about Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Neither diplomat addressed the questions. Before the exchange ended, Lavrov asked reporters to speak louder before staff escorted the press from the room.
Deeper Russian involvement would mark escalation
Russia and Iran have developed a close strategic and military relationship, trading technology, intelligence, and weapons while opposing U.S. influence in their respective regions.
Moscow has already provided Tehran with targeting and technical assistance during the broader war, according to previous reporting and acknowledgments from American officials. Direct assistance in striking CIA facilities, however, would represent a more serious escalation.
It would suggest that Russia is not merely helping Iran improve its military capabilities but is actively supporting attacks on some of the most sensitive American intelligence assets in the Middle East.
For now, U.S. analysts are still attempting to determine whether the evidence supports that conclusion — or whether Iran reached the CIA sites without direct Russian help.
READ NEXT: Federal Probe Rocks Key Republican Primary
