US intelligence probes Russia's possible role in Iranian drone strikes on CIA sites in Gulf

Attacks on CIA postings

In March 2026 at least two CIA stations came under Iranian drone fire. One, embedded within the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was struck by two Russian-upgraded Shahed-136 drones. The first drone pierced a vulnerable section of the embassy's exterior, creating an opening, and the second flew through and exploded inside the facility that housed the CIA station. A second CIA site in Iraq was also hit, and Western officials later said other agency infrastructure sustained damage, putting the number of affected facilities at "more than one and fewer than ten". No casualties were officially reported from these strikes. The attacks were part of a broader Iranian retaliation that began after 28 February, when Israel and the United States launched a series of strikes on Iran, according to La Libre. Some analysts have since acknowledged the embassy itself might have been the intended target, with the intelligence facility struck accidentally.

Technical help from Moscow

US analysts suspect Russia supplied the Kometa-M satellite navigation system, a unit harder to jam and far more precise than Iran's domestically developed alternative. Moscow also reportedly provided high-resolution satellite imagery that exceeded the quality of Iran's own reconnaissance satellites, two Western officials based in the Gulf said. The improved accuracy was evident in the Riyadh operation, where the upgraded drones executed a tandem breach-and-detonate manoeuvre. China has separately given Iran access to the Emposat satellite and its own high-resolution imagery, security sources quoted by Focus noted, broadening the pool of external targeting support available to Tehran.

Intelligence probe and motive

Four people familiar with US intelligence told Reuters that analysts are investigating whether Moscow directly fed targeting coordinates to Iran for the CIA facility strikes. A Western intelligence memo assessed a "probable" Russian role, and insiders stressed that hardly any other state possesses both the means and the interest to hand such sensitive reconnaissance data to Iran for use against the United States. Security expert Prof. Dr. Joachim Krause of Germany suggested the support could be a revenge operation: the CIA had recently shared data on Russian military infrastructure and refineries with Ukraine, intelligence that Kyiv then used to carry out strikes deep inside Russian territory. That link, he argued, gave Moscow a direct incentive to help Iran target the agency's overseas stations.

Escalation and US response

Concern intensified after an Iranian ballistic missile strike on a US base in Jordan on 17 July killed two American soldiers, an event that sharpened the focus on whether Russian targeting assistance has expanded from intelligence sites to military installations. Russia has consistently denied the allegations; the Kremlin dismissed earlier reports of the Kometa-M transfer as "fake". The Wall Street Journal had first reported the system's delivery in March, and special envoy Steve Witkoff had acknowledged broader Russian technical support for Iran shortly before that report appeared. President Donald Trump has so far downplayed intelligence on Russian military aid to Iran, still hoping for a deal with Vladimir Putin, according to Focus. It remains unclear how Washington would respond if the Russia-CIA attack link is confirmed.