Streng genommen handelt es sich hier nicht einfach um einen Krieg gegen den Iran, sondern vor allem um einen Krieg gegen China, Russland, Indien und die Europäische Union. Und wie sollten die USA damit umgehen? Eine diplomatische Note übermitteln? Noch mehr Sanktionen? Militärschläge? Das schwankt alles zwischen wirkungslos, wenig wirksam und brandgefährlich.
Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say
The assistance, which has not been previously reported, signals that the rapidly expanding conflict now features one of America’s chief nuclear-armed competitors with exquisite intelligence capabilities.
Since the war began Saturday, Russia has passed Iran the locations of U.S. military assets, including warships and aircraft, said the three officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.
“It does seem like it’s a pretty comprehensive effort,” one of the people said.
Reached by The Washington Post on Friday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, declined to comment on the intelligence findings. Moscow has called for an end to the war, which it labeled an “unprovoked act of armed aggression.”
The extent of Russia’s targeting assistance to Iran was not entirely clear. The Iranian military’s own ability to locate U.S. forces has been degraded less than a week into the fighting, the officials said.
The CIA and the Pentagon declined to comment.
Two of the officials familiar with Russia’s support for Iran said that China did not appear to be aiding Iran’s defense, despite close ties between the two countries.
Iran is “making very precise hits on early-warning radars or over-the-horizon radars,” said Dara Massicot, an expert on the Russian military at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “They’re doing this in a very targeted way. They’re going after command and control,” she added.
Iran possesses only a handful of military-grade satellites, and no satellite constellation of its own, which would make imagery provided by Russia’s much more advanced space capabilities highly valuable — particularly as the Kremlin has honed its own targeting after years of war in Ukraine, Massicot said.
Nicole Grajewski, who studies Iran’s cooperation with Russia at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, said that there had been a high level of “sophistication” in the Iranian retaliatory strikes, both in what Tehran has targeted and in its ability in some cases to overwhelm U.S. and allied defenses.
“They’re getting through air defenses,” she said, noting that the quality of Iran’s strikes appeared to have improved even from its 12-day war with Israel last summer.
The Pentagon is quickly burning through its supply of precision arms and air defense interceptors, people familiar with the matter have told The Post, underscoring concerns raised by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as President Donald Trump deliberated whether to approve the operation. The administration has sought to downplay Caine’s assessment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... s-targets/“The Russians are more than aware of the assistance that we’re giving the Ukrainians,” said one of the officials familiar with Moscow’s support for Tehran. “I think they were very happy to try to get some payback.”
The quality of Russia’s intelligence collection is not on a par with America’s but still ranks among the world’s best, this person continued.
