White House downplays claim Russia is ‘handing Iran key intelligence for attacks on US military across Middle East'
The US has downplayed claims Russia is handing Iran key intelligence for strikes on Western military assets across the Middle East.
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The Kremlin information was allegedly handed over as soon as Donald Trump’s assault on the Islamic Republic began on Saturday.
It helped Iran launch “sophisticated” attacks with drones and missiles unleashed on US facilities, warships and aircraft across the region, US officials told the Washington Post.
Iran was also able to target temporary structures it would otherwise not be able to see with its own satellites, sources told the newspaper. This reportedly included the facility in Kuwait where six US service personnel were killed.
Read more: Two children among seven dead after Russian missile strike in Ukraine overnight
Read more: Russia ‘handing Iran key intelligence for attacks on US military across Middle East', officials warn
But, speaking on Friday, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth played down these reports, saying he is “not concerned.”
“The American people can rest assured their commander-in-chief is well aware of who’s talking to who,” Hegseth said.
“And anything that shouldn’t be happening, whether it’s in public or back-channelled, is being confronted and confronted strongly.”
He continued: “We’re putting the other guys in danger, and that’s our job. So we’re not concerned about that. But the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re gonna live.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed these comments, telling reporters any information is “clearly is not making any difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating them.”
These alleged leaks would mark the first sign Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively taking part in the deepening conflict - which Iranian officials say has claimed more than 1,200 lives.
“The Russians are more than aware of the assistance that we’re giving the Ukrainians,” a US official told the Post.
Russia has openly sided with Iran amid the conflict, with Moscow blasting the US and Israel’s war on Iran as an “unprovoked act of armed aggression” despite launching its own illegal invasion of Ukraine four years ago.
Israel has confirmed that at least 80 fighter jets were involved in overnight strikes on Tehran.
A military university, ballistic missile storage and missile launch sites were targeted, the IDF claims.
Explosions have been heard across central Iran as the death toll from US-Israeli strikes nears 1,300.
Trump warned earlier this week that the massive attack wave was coming, telling reporters: "We haven't even started hitting them hard. The big wave has not even happened."