Iran launched drone strikes on Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) facilities in the Middle East, prompting speculation that Russia may have assisted Tehran by providing intelligence on the locations of the targets.
People familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing national security issues, said U.S. intelligence agencies have not yet reached a definitive conclusion on the role Russia may have played in the attacks targeting CIA facilities.
However, they noted that the precision of the strikes, the attackers’ ability to accurately identify their targets, and the advanced technological assistance Russia has long provided to Iran could indicate Moscow’s involvement.
Reuters and several other media outlets reported that U.S. officials believe Russia supplied Iran with intelligence on the locations to be targeted, along with other forms of assistance used in the attacks on U.S. facilities in the Persian Gulf.
Despite those reports, the intelligence community’s investigation into Russia’s possible role in helping Iran carry out the attacks on CIA facilities had not previously been made public.
Two CIA facilities were reportedly attacked in March 2026. One was the CIA office located within the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while the other was a CIA facility in eastern Iraq.
An internal intelligence assessment from a Western intelligence service, which was briefed to a senior regional official who reviewed the document, concluded that Russia was highly likely to have played a role in identifying CIA facilities in the region that were later targeted in the attacks.
The official discussed the assessment on condition that the agency responsible for producing the document would not be identified.
Two Western officials based in the Middle East, who were briefed on the intelligence reports, said analysts believe the attack in Saudi Arabia was carried out using two Iranian Shahed drones that had been upgraded with Russian technology.
According to the officials, the first drone breached the outer section of the U.S. Embassy compound, while the second flew through the opening before exploding. No one was killed or injured.
Although Russia has long supported Iran because of the close relationship between the two countries, providing assistance in specifically identifying covert CIA facilities would indicate that Moscow is willing to go much further in undermining U.S. operations at a time when Washington is struggling to find a way to bring the conflict with Iran to an end.
Concerns that Russia may be supplying Iran with targeting intelligence intensified over the weekend following attacks on U.S. military bases in Jordan.
During those attacks, Iran fired missiles at military barracks, killing two U.S. soldiers.
