Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role

WASHINGTON/RIYADH - Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf have prompted US intelligence analysts to investigate whether Russia assisted by providing targeting information or advanced drone technology, said four people familiar with US intelligence.

These people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters, said US intelligence officials have not yet reached firm conclusions about the possible Russian involvement in the attacks on CIA facilities.

But they cited the strikes’ effectiveness and apparent precision, as well as Russia’s broader technical support for Iran, as possible evidence.

Reuters and other media have reported - and US officials have acknowledged - that Russia has provided targeting and other support for Iran in its strikes on US targets in the Gulf region generally, but the intelligence community’s investigation of possible Russian involvement in supporting the CIA facility attacks has not been previously disclosed.

At least two CIA sites were struck in March, Reuters and other outlets have reported. One of the facilities was the CIA station in Saudi Arabia, which is located in the US embassy in Riyadh, and a separate site was located in eastern Iraq. Some of the sources said additional CIA sites had been hit, but they did not disclose details.

Russia helped target facilities: Memo

One internal memo from a Western intelligence agency, described by an official in the region with access to the document, concluded Russia has likely played a role in targeting regional CIA facilities. The official discussed the memo on condition that its precise authorship not be disclosed.

Two Western officials in the Gulf who were briefed on intelligence reports said analysts thought the Saudi attack involved a pair of Russian-enhanced versions of Iran’s Shahed drones. One of the aircraft blew a hole through a vulnerable part of the embassy’s exterior and the second flew through the opening and detonated, they said. No deaths or injuries were reported.

While Russian assistance for Iran is longstanding, given the countries’ close ties, specific targeting of sensitive CIA sites would indicate Moscow is willing to go further in disrupting US operations as Washington struggles to bring the Iran war to an end.

Concerns that Russia could be providing targeting data to Iran intensified this weekend after strikes on a US air base in Jordan, where Iran struck army barracks with ballistic missiles, killing two soldiers.

The White House referred a request for comment to the CIA, which declined to provide one.

Iran’s mission to the UN, the Russian Defense Ministry and the Saudi government did not respond to requests for comment.

Secretive sites

The two Western officials in the region said Russia has helped Iran improve its Shahed drones’ ability to reach targets, and said analysts suspected that Iran used these versions in its strike in Riyadh.

Russia, said a separate source, has helped Tehran improve the accuracy of its Shahed-136s by supplying a satellite navigation system - the Kometa-M - that experts say is far more accurate and harder to jam than the one produced by Iran.

An Iranian drone on display at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Museum in Tehran, Iran. PHOTO: REUTERS

The Wall Street Journal first reported in March that Russia has provided the Kometa-M to Iran. The Kremlin denied the report, calling it “fake news.”

CIA facilities overseas include the agency’s main offices in individual countries that traditionally are housed in embassies and are called stations. Additionally, the CIA maintains offices, safe houses, logistics hubs and sites involved in surveillance or other operations.

The locations of those sites are closely guarded secrets.

The sources declined to disclose the exact number or locations of CIA facilities hit by Iranian drones. One source put the number at “more than one and fewer than a dozen.” A second source said several facilities were hit.

Russian targeting data?

US intelligence analysts have been looking into whether Iran relied on Russian targeting data for the embassy attack, said the sources.

Doubts remain, however. Some of the sources warned that Iran could have been aiming for the US embassy generally and by chance struck the CIA station.

Some analysts have concluded that few nations beyond Russia would have the means to acquire and the interest in weaponising such sensitive targeting intelligence against the US, according to the sources.

Daniel Hoffman, a former CIA station chief and undercover operations officer, said it would not be surprising for Moscow to help Tehran target CIA facilities given their close strategic partnership.

“They share an interest in trying to reduce or eliminate U.S. influence altogether in their self-designated spheres of influence,” he said. REUTERS