strikeJul 23, 2026

Has Russia helped Iran target CIA sites in the Gulf?

Summary

Has Russia helped Iran target CIA sites in the Gulf? Reports of Iran targeting sites belonging to the US's CIA first emerged in the early days of the US and Israel’s war with Iran. When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov on Thursday in Manila, on the margins of a summit of Southeast Asian nations, Moscow’s war on Ukraine was officially the top agenda item. But the meeting between Rubio and Lavrov was held under the shadow of fresh reports suggesting that Russia might be playing a more active role than it has publicly acknowledged in Iran’s attacks on United States military sites in the Middle East. Recommended Storieslist of 3 items - list 1 of 3What are ‘civilian’ sites in international law and where have US, Iran hit? - list 2 of 3Can the Suez save Asian oil consumers after Houthis shut Bab al-Mandeb? - list 3 of 3Ukraine’s new military chief pledges to escalate retaliation against Russia Reports of Iran targeting sites belonging to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) first emerged in the early days of the US and Israel’s war on Iran. Three days into the war, on March 3, The Washington Post reported that a CIA station in the US embassy in Riyadh had been targeted, according to two people familiar with the matter. On March 6, CNN reported, citing US intelligence sources, that Moscow had been helping Tehran locate US personnel and aircraft in the Gulf. Now, more recently, the Reuters news agency on Wednesday reported that Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities, specifically on the embassy in Saudi Arabia, had prompted US intelligence to investigate possible Russian involvement, suggesting that the strikes’ effectiveness and precision could suggest possible evidence of support. Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at the Centre of International Research at Sciences Po university in Paris, explained that Russian involvement in Iran’s targeting was a “realistic” theory. “This was kind of what was suspected because a lot of the attacks that Iran did were far more advanced than what they’ve done before,” Grajewski told Al Jazeera. “Iran doesn’t have great space-based capability, unlike Russia,” she said. “Compared to Russia, Iran doesn’t have enough military-grade satellites for basic stuff… it seems likely that they struck some of the deal with the Russians.” However, she explained that Iran has its own human intelligence-gathering networks that are “often overlooked” when it comes to the targets it selects in the region. Russian support for Iran Amid wars and sanctions, Moscow and Tehran have deepened their military relations. While many analysts have argued that relations between the two countries are less of an alliance and more of a marriage of convenience against the West, Grajewski disagrees. “They both have kind of viewed themselves as actors that are facing kind of similar threats on the global stage, and their cooperation has really intensified since the war in Ukraine, and even more so recently,” she said. “They’re much more dependent on each other.” The February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine drew the two sides closer militarily after Tehran provided Moscow with critical weapons, most notably the Shahed drone and the Fateh-110 ballistic missile, to aid in its war efforts. Last year, the two sides signed a 20-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which had promised to increase defence cooperation. However, The Moscow Times reported Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko saying in an address to the State Duma at the time that the treaty did not mean the “establishment of a military alliance with Iran or mutual military assistance”. Russia has also allegedly helped Tehran improve the accuracy of its Shahed-136s by supplying the Kometa-M anti-jamming navigation system. According to reports in March, debris that was found after an attempted Iranian attack on a British Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Cyprus recovered the Russian system from the wreckage of a Shahed-136 drone. Russia rejected a report by The Wall Street Journal that reported on the Kometa-M system on Iranian drones, calling it “fake news”. Still, Grajewski explained that the US war with Iran serves to benefit Moscow to “some extent” as it diverts attention away from the Ukraine war and has the potential of weakening the US’s global power. “I think the Russians view this as kind of a broader battle for a global order, and they see this as kind of the real cascade that might lead to American decline,” she said. “Obviously, they don’t want to see Iran fall, and so that’s always been this kind of delicate balance between having Iran go at it alone against the United States, but also making sure that Iran has enough support to survive and withstand a very difficult moment in their history, too.” Recent attacks More recently, the US and Iran have intensified their exchange of attacks. US strikes on Iran have continued for the 12th consecutive night, killing at least two people in an attack on the Shalamcheh crossing on the border with Iraq on Thursday morning. Iran has struck back with attacks on multiple Gulf countries and Jordan in recent days. And ultimately, Grajewski said that Iran’s own tactics are proving to have more of an impact on the course of the war than any Russian intelligence help. “Russian involvement isn’t the fundamental tipping point for the Iranians. Iran already had these capabilities; they’ve already developed an extensive drone force, extensive missile force,” she said. “What it did do is give Iran a bit of an edge and improve it.”

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Edna MohamedBy Edna Mohamed
Has Russia helped Iran target CIA sites in the Gulf? Reports of Iran targeting sites belonging to the US's CIA first emerged in the early days of the US and Israel’s war with Iran. When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov on Thursday in M…

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Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedIranProxy

2 Chinese supertankers apparently escape Houthis' Red Sea blockade

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Two Chinese supertankers carrying a combined 4 million barrels of Saudi Arabian oil exited the Red Sea via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Thursday, shipping data showed, apparently escaping a blockade on shipments of Saudi oil by Yemen's Houthi rebels even as other vessels came under attack.

The Red Sea blockade by the Iran-aligned Houthis is worsening global energy supply disruption, coming at the same time the key Strait of Hormuz has practically shut due to the resumption of fighting between the U.S. and Iran. The Singaporean-flagged VLCC Xin Long Yang, which made a U-turn and paused in the middle of the Red Sea on Tuesday, resumed its journey southward late on Wednesday, LSEG shipping data showed.

The Chinese-flagged VLCC Cosnew Lake followed and both tankers exited the Red Sea later on Thursday, the data showed. The Xin Long Yang was heading to the port of Qinzhou in southern Guangxi province, while Cosnew Lake is expected to discharge its cargo at the port of Huizhou, in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, the data showed.

Both vessels indicated through their automatic identification system transmitters that there were Chinese crew onboard, the data showed. The vessels are chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec, and loaded crude at Saudi Arabia's port of Yanbu earlier this week.

At least two other VLCCs chartered by Unipec and scheduled to enter the Red Sea and load Saudi crude at the Yanbu port later this month slowed their advance toward Bab el-Mandeb and were making small circles in the Gulf of Aden, LSEG data showed. Earlier on Thursday, the Houthis announced they had carried out a military operation targeting two Saudi oil tankers they said violated the blockade.

Shipping data showed both tankers supply crude to Saudi power plants and local refineries. The Saudi Arabian news agency SPA later said the Saudi vessel Encelia was attacked in the Red Sea and was on fire, though the crew was safe. Because of the Middle East conflict, shipping traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb declined and movement through the Strait of Hormuz remained subdued on Wednesday, data from LSEG and data analytics firm Kpler showed.

Twenty-seven vessels, including five oil tankers and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier, crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Wednesday, LSEG data showed, down from 38 the previous day. Data from analytics firm Vortexa showed one VLCC exited Bab el-Mandeb with its transponder switched off on Wednesday.

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Three commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, down from four a day earlier and 18 the previous Wednesday, according to Kpler. Two vessels entered the strait from the Gulf of Oman, including a tanker carrying dirty petroleum products that sailed through Iranian waters and a dry bulk carrier operating in dark mode, with its tracking signal switched off, Kpler data showed.

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Crude Oil Skyrockets As Middle East Crisis Deepens With Houthi Attacks On Saudi Tankers

○ 1 source

(RTTNews) - Extending four consecutive sessions of gains, crude oil prices have catapulted on Thursday amid concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East set off by new attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea.

WTI Crude Oil for September month delivery was last seen trading up by $92.59 (or 6.63%) at $5.76 per barrel. The conflict between the U.S. and Iran that started on February 28 is yet to show indications for a peaceful resolution. Through a Memorandum of Understanding on June 17, the U.

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Within a month of signing the MoU, Iran fired at ships transiting via the Strait of Hormuz for not coordinating with Iranian forces and U.S. forces recommenced their attacks on Iran. In retaliation, Iran struck several U.S. bases in neighboring nations.

As of now, the U.S. military has conducted 12 consecutive nights of strikes against Iran. U.S. Central Command stated that through the attacks, the U.S. intended to degrade Iran's capabilities to conduct any further strikes on ships traveling through the strait.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened that the U.S. would target a power plant or a bridge in Iran if it attempts to strike any ship across the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Iran stated that the conflict would grow broader if the U.S. attempts to hit Iranian infrastructure.

Aside from the verbal exchange of rhetoric, the strait saw no disturbances. Shipping traffic across the Strait of Hormuz has already come to a standstill. According to data from S&P Global, the vessel traffic dropped from 16 on Monday to 10 on Tuesday.

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According to data from S&P Global, the vessel traffic has dropped from 41 on Monday to 29 on Tuesday. Trump announced through Truth Social that if Houthis conduct any further strikes, Iran would suffer a major military punishment as the U.S. would hold Iran responsible for the group's actions.

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The U.S. dollar index was last seen trading at 101.47, up by 0.36 (or 0.36%) today. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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○ 1 source

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