European allies are privately and publicly telling U.S. diplomats that Russia is providing direct, material support to Iran’s war operations at a level they say Washington has not fully acknowledged, multiple sources told CBS News. European officials also argue the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are linked through growing Russia‑Iran cooperation.
A U.K. official said Russian‑Iranian defense ties have expanded in recent years and that Iranian technological advances are now evident in strikes across the Middle East. The U.K. assessment, the official said, holds that Iran supplied Shahed drones to Russia and transferred production know‑how that has helped refine Iran’s drone capabilities, although the official could not confirm recent Russian hardware shipments to Iran.
France’s foreign minister, Jean‑Noël Barrot, described the relationship as “two‑way cooperation,” saying there are indications Moscow now supports Iranian military activity, including actions aimed at American targets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week he possesses “irrefutable evidence” that Russia is providing signals and electronic intelligence to Iran. Zelenskyy told reporters an intelligence briefing showed Russian satellites had photographed U.S. military facilities and other sites in the Middle East and Gulf — including the U.S.-U.K. facility on Diego Garcia, Kuwait International Airport, Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, and locations in Turkey and Qatar — allegedly in support of Iranian targeting.
After the G7 meeting in France, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to downplay the extent of Iran‑Russia cooperation, telling reporters that, in his view, Russia’s actions are not impeding U.S. operations. “There is nothing Russia is doing for Iran that is in any way impeding or affecting our operation or the effectiveness of it,” Rubio said.
Zelenskyy also visited the United Arab Emirates, which maintains close ties with Moscow, offering Ukraine’s anti‑drone technology as Gulf states that host U.S. bases have become targets of Iranian strikes.
Multiple sources, including a senior U.S. official, told CBS News in March that Russia has shared intelligence with Iran on U.S. positions in the Middle East. Estonia’s Kaja Kallas told G7 leaders she believes Russia is supplying intelligence to Iran “to kill Americans” and is assisting Iran with drones used against neighboring countries and U.S. bases.
U.K. Secretary of Defense John Healey said he sees the “hidden hand of Putin” behind elements of Iran’s war effort. When asked about reports of shared intelligence, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told 60 Minutes that President Trump is aware of communications between parties and that anything inappropriate is being confronted strongly.
U.S. intelligence agencies have publicly characterized the relationship among China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as “selective cooperation” driven by a desire to balance U.S. actions, but not as a full adversary alignment. The worldwide threat assessment from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence said mutual concerns about directly confronting the United States constrain the depth of those relationships.
Meanwhile, demand is high from Israel, Gulf partners and Ukraine for U.S.‑made missile interceptors used to shoot down incoming threats. Rubio said U.S. sales and allocations of defensive systems to Ukraine have not yet been negatively affected by Middle East requirements and that NATO’s procurement mechanism remains intact, while acknowledging the U.S. could redirect some weaponry if needed. “If we need something for America and it’s American, we’re going to keep it for America first. But as of now, that has not happened,” he said.
The developing claims from European partners add to international scrutiny of how Moscow and Tehran may be coordinating military and intelligence support amid simultaneous conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.