Putin’s actions in Iran demand a U.S. response
Russia is counting on Iran distracting the United States from Ukraine.
By Jeanne Shaheen
The Washington Post
For the last week, the United States and its partners have been fighting in the Middle East. President Donald Trump says the conflict will be over within a few weeks. But wars rarely end on Washington’s timetable. Ukraine’s resilience shows how wrong those predictions can be.
Ukraine was predicted to fall in a matter of weeks. Instead, four years on, Ukrainian forces have retaken territory in places such as Zaporizhzhia and along the southern front. Troops under Russia’s command, including many drawn from Russia’s poorest communities, alongside North Korean units and coerced African fighters, have suffered staggering losses in a campaign that has bogged down.
When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine first stalled, the Kremlin turned to Tehran for help. Iran began supplying Shahed drones in 2022 and helped establish a production facility in the Russian town of Yelabuga that now manufactures thousands of these weapons each month. In 2025, Russia launched more than 53,000 drones against Ukraine — up from about 11,000 in 2024.
That Russia-Iran partnership is now shaping the war in the Middle East as well. According to The Washington Post, U.S. officials believe Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran as Tehran targets American and allied interests in the region. Russia is not a bystander in this crisis. It is helping Iran challenge the United States.
Moscow has a history of doing exactly that. In 2020, U.S. intelligence reports indicated Russia may have offered Taliban fighters bounties for killing American and coalition troops in Afghanistan. More recently, Russia provided satellite imagery to Iran-backed Houthi militants to help them target Western ships in the Red Sea.
Already in the first week of the Iran war, Iranian Shahed drones killed American troops in Kuwait. Hotels frequented by Americans in Dubai, along with U.S. military, intelligence and diplomatic facilities throughout the Middle East, have also come under attack. Given Moscow’s growing role in supporting Tehran, it is hard to escape the conclusion that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intelligence agencies had a hand in planning these strikes.
This reality echoes what I saw in Odesa, Ukraine, last month, where I met with executives of American businesses that had come under Russian attack. As I left Ukraine, two more facilities were hit, including an American facility producing Oreo cookies. This was no accident. Russia is deliberately targeting American businesses.
Just as Ukraine’s defenders and first responders were there when Russia attacked American factories and facilities in Ukraine, it is Ukraine now helping the United States protect our citizens and interests in the Middle East. After four years of defending its cities from Iranian-designed drones used by Russia, Kyiv has developed advanced counter-drone systems. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted this expertise when the war with Iran began and offered his government’s battle-tested experience immediately. Ukrainian military experts are now discussing with the United States and Gulf partners how to leverage Ukrainian expertise and technology to counter Iranian attacks across the Middle East.
The United States could have entered this conflict already drawing fully on Ukraine’s hard-earned experience. But Trump’s insistence on cooperating with Putin instead of strengthening Ukraine militarily and diplomatically has become a self-inflicted setback. It also reflects the administration’s broader lack of strategy as the Iran conflict unfolds. Our military is now having to learn in real time what Ukraine spent years mastering in combat.
Beyond the battlefield, a widening war gives Putin a financial lifeline at a moment when his economy was teetering. Oil and gas generated about 30 to 50 percent of Russia’s federal budget over the past decade, and rising energy prices from the war with Iran are already boosting the Kremlin’s revenue. The conflict will also strain Western military resources that might otherwise support Ukraine and consume air defenses and interceptor missiles needed elsewhere. The deeper the war becomes, the greater the risk of American boots on the ground. That is precisely the kind of prolonged entanglement the Kremlin wants.
The Trump administration should be doing all it can to disabuse Russia’s leader of such hopes. Stopping Iran’s attacks on Americans must go hand in hand with tightening pressure on the Kremlin. Enforcing sanctions on Russia’s oil exports, cracking down on the shadow fleet that funds Putin’s war and deepening cooperation with Ukraine’s battle-tested military are not favors to Kyiv. They are steps that protect American troops and interests.
Yet instead of tightening pressure on Moscow, this administration is moving in the opposite direction, with the U.S. Treasury Department offering Putin a green light to export previously sanctioned oil to India. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has even said more sanctions relief beyond that may be under consideration. The administration is loosening sanctions and continuing negotiations with Russia as though Putin does not already have American blood on his hands.
When Americans are targeted abroad, the United States must respond with clarity and resolve. Vladimir Putin has chosen to stand with and aid those attacking Americans. Recognizing that reality and responding to Putin is now the test facing this administration.
