As the war in Iran continues, the Middle Eastern foe hasn’t just attacked obvious U.S. targets, such as embassies and consulates in the region. Despite the extensive damage that’s been done to Iran’s offensive capabilities, the country has reportedly managed to target things like a CIA facility in Saudi Arabia, a naval command-and-control facility in Bahrain and U.S. radar facilities across the Gulf.
There’s ample speculation as to how this happened, but it’s hard to overlook the reports from multiple news organizations, including MS NOW, over the weekend that Russia had provided Iran with information that could help it strike American targets. One U.S. official told MS NOW point-blank, “Russia is providing intelligence help to Iran.”
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker pressed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on this, and he made no effort to deny the accuracy of the reporting, emphasizing that Iran’s “strategic partnership” with Russia is “not a secret.”
Common sense might suggest that Donald Trump and his team would express outrage over the development and condemn efforts to help Iran target American personnel and assets.
Common sense, however, is apparently in short supply.
In the wake of the reporting, the president and his team not only expressed public indifference to the news that Russia was assisting Iran, the Republican administration also extended a new reward to Vladimir Putin’s regime, temporarily easing oil sanctions on the country.
If that weren’t quite enough, one of the key figures on Trump’s foreign policy team went even further on Tuesday. MS NOW reported that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff appeared on CNBC and emphasized that Russian officials have denied the allegations.
Witkoff said Russian officials told President Donald Trump on a call [Monday] that ‘they have not been sharing’ the information.
Witkoff added that Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, ‘reiterated the same’ on a call with himself and Jared Kushner, one of Trump’s sons-in-law, whom the president named as a ‘special peace envoy.’
Witkoff went on to say of the Russian officials, “We can take them at their word.”
So as far as Team Trump is concerned, when confronted with evidence that Russia is aiding Iran during the war, the proper response is to (a) shrug; (b) boost Russia’s economy; and (c) vouch for Moscow’s trustworthiness.
Witkoff’s on-air comments came a day after Trump said that he had a “positive call” with Putin and that the Russian leader “wants to be helpful” and “very constructive.”
The American president didn’t specify for whom Putin wants to be helpful and constructive.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware appeared on MS NOW this week and said, “The clearest winner from this war in Iran is Russia.” Soon after, The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin “can barely conceal a smirk” as the war continues.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
