Kathrine Frich
Officials have not reached a final conclusion yet.
Global conflicts have a way of spilling over into new battlefields.
Right now, security experts are watching closely as rival nations share their deadliest military secrets.
American officials suspect that a hidden alliance has just crossed a very dangerous line.
A hidden hand
American intelligence agencies are trying to find out if Moscow helped Tehran hit covert CIA locations across the Middle East. Four individuals familiar with the matter shared this information with Reuters according to Digi24.
The probe remains open. Officials have not reached a final conclusion yet, but they view the unusual precision of the drone strikes as a major clue.
At least two covert facilities took direct hits in March. One station sits inside the American embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the other operates in eastern Iraq.
Deadly drone tactics
An internal memo from a Western intelligence agency suggests Russia likely played a role in identifying these regional targets. The exact author of the document remains a secret.
Analysts believe the attackers used two modified versions of Iranian Shahed drones to strike the Saudi Arabia compound. Western officials in the Gulf region explained the sequence of events to Reuters.
One drone smashed into a vulnerable part of the embassy exterior. Moments later, a second drone flew through the fresh opening and exploded. Luckily, nobody was hurt in the blast.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Russia gave Iran a highly accurate satellite navigation system called Kometa-M. The Kremlin firmly denied that report and called it “fake news.”
Tracing the source
Covert outposts are traditionally hidden away inside embassies or logistics hubs. Finding them requires deep espionage.
Some analysts think Iran might have just aimed at the embassy broadly and hit the CIA station by accident. However, many experts believe very few countries besides Russia possess the technical tools to gather such sensitive targeting data.
The exact number of compromised locations remains classified. One individual simply told Reuters the total count was “more than one and less than 12.”
Former CIA station chief Daniel Hoffman told Reuters he fully expects Moscow to assist Tehran. “Both have an interest in trying to reduce or completely eliminate the influence of the United States in what they consider their own spheres of influence,” Hoffman said.
Sources: Digi24, Reuters, Wall Street Journal
