Russia Enters the Fight Against America

Russia is giving Iranian forces intelligence to help them strike American assets in the Middle East, the Washington Post reported Friday, citing United States officials.

The development marks the first sign of another major U.S. adversary entering the Iran war and could complicate U.S. and Israeli plans to bring down the Iranian regime.

Iran’s surprising effectiveness: Since the United States and Israel began striking targets in Iran on February 28, the Iranians have hit several U.S. military and intelligence assets—including missile-defense systems, radar and early-warning infrastructure, a naval-base structure, a cia facility and a temporary command center—in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

• Iranian forces are “making very precise hits on early-warning radars or over-the-horizon radars,” analyst Dara Massicot told the Post. “They’re doing this in a very targeted way. They’re going after command and control.”

The strikes have surprised some analysts for their precision and effectiveness, particularly since Iran’s handful of military-grade satellites falls far short of the constellation needed for advanced imaging and targeting.

Russia, however, has more than 100 active military satellites. Its decision to share reconnaissance and targeting intelligence with Iran is likely the factor that enabled these precision strikes on high-value U.S. assets. And analysts say Russian targeting will also make American warships far more vulnerable to Iran.

You scratch my back … Since Russia took its war against Ukraine full-scale four years ago, Iran has provided it with tens of thousands of suicide drones, technical support and large quantities of munitions. The Iranians have also helped Russia evade sanctions. Against this backdrop, Russia’s decision to lend support to Iran is hardly unexpected.

Russia’s intelligence sharing could portend still greater involvement from Russia and other Iranian partners, and it shows the potential for Iran to withstand the attacks and punch above its weight for longer than the U.S. and Israel may expect.

Whether due to Russian assistance or another set of factors, the Trumpet maintains that the current war will not neutralize the Iranian threat. As senior editor Joel Hilliker wrote at the war’s outset:

It is unclear exactly how this situation will play out. Often events take turns very different from what we expect. But biblical prophecy is clear about the outcome. [A]s much as one may wish to see the demise of this violent, oppressive regime, somehow Iran is going to preserve its considerable power—as well as its extremist temperament and aspirations.