What does it mean to be an ally of the United States, or an enemy? These aren’t merely philosophical questions, because the answers can determine whether American service members live or die.
Right now, Russia is directly helping the Iranian regime do what it has been doing for decades: kill and injure Americans. On March 23, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote that “we have irrefutable evidence that the Russians continue to provide intelligence to the Iranian regime. Russia is using its own signals intelligence and electronic intelligence capabilities, as well as part of the data obtained through cooperation with partners in the Middle East.” Ukrainian intelligence isn’t the only source for these claims. The Wall Street Journal reports that “Russia has been expanding its intelligence sharing and military cooperation with Iran, providing satellite imagery and improved drone technology to aid Tehran’s targeting of U.S. forces in the region.” That article was published on March 17, 10 days before Iran attacked American airmen at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, injuring 12 of them and destroying an enormously valuable surveillance aircraft.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has been doing all it can to help America’s friends in the Gulf defend themselves, even as Ukraine itself endures brutal attacks from Russia. Ukrainian forces have years of experience defending against the deadly Shahed suicide drones supplied to Russia by Iran, and Ukraine has now sent more than 200 counter-drone specialists to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to help them defeat attacks from these very drones. So Ukraine, which has signed defense cooperation agreements with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, is a new ally of our Gulf Arab allies.
