Russia wants to enter the conflict in the Middle East

Reports that Russia may be transferring data about American targets in the Middle East to Iran are the first signal that Moscow is trying to get involved in the armed conflict there that has been going on for almost a week, wrote the AP agency.

Russia is providing Iran with information that could help it attack US ships, planes and other assets in the region, the Associated Press reported, citing two officials familiar with US intelligence on the matter.

US intelligence did not detect that Russia was telling Iran what to do with the information it was given.

However, as noted by the AP agency, this is the first signal that Moscow, which maintains friendly relations with Tehran, is trying to get involved in the war started last Saturday by the US and Israel.

The Associated Press emphasized that the White House downplayed these reports. His spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said it didn't matter because American forces were decimating the Iranian regime anyway.

Then, when asked by journalists whether the US administration still believes that peace is possible given the Russians' actions, she replied: – I think the president (Donald Trump) would say that peace is still an achievable goal in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked whether Russia would go beyond political support and offer military assistance to Iran, said that Tehran had not made such requests.

– We are in dialogue with the Iranian side, with representatives of the Iranian authorities, and we will certainly continue this dialogue, he said on Friday.

He did not answer a question about whether Russia has provided any military or intelligence support to Iran since the beginning of the US-Israel operation.

The Washington Post was the first to report Russian support for Iran.

From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

Sun/Apr/