U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the United States is “not concerned” about reports that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran for targeting American military forces in the Middle East.
Hegseth, who neither confirmed nor denied the reports, said in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that the Pentagon was “tracking everything.”
“Our commanders are aware of everything,” he said. “We have the best intelligence in the world. We’re aware of who’s talking to who.”
“We’re not concerned about that,” Hegseth said, referring to Russia’s reported information sharing with Iran. “We mitigate it as we need to.”
Earlier, sources told the Washington Post that Russia was providing targeting information to the Iranian military, including the locations of U.S. warships and aircraft.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described it as a “pretty comprehensive effort,” though the full extent of Russia’s assistance remained unclear, the newspaper noted.
The White House, like Hegseth, also downplayed the Washington Post report.
“It clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating them,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
“We are achieving the military objectives of this operation, and that is going to continue,” Leavitt said.
Russia is one of Iran’s closest partners. It has condemned U.S.-Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic as an “unprovoked act of armed aggression.”
In 2025, the two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement that includes provisions for countering shared threats. However, the pact stops short of mutual defense obligations, unlike the security agreement Russia has signed with North Korea.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News this week that “military cooperation between Iran and Russia is no secret.”
The Kremlin has said that Iran had not asked for Russia’s military support since the outbreak of war.
AFP contributed reporting.
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