European allies say Russia is helping Iran more than the US has admitted, the sources said

European allies publicly and privately told American ambassadors that Russia is direct and has tangible assets to help Iran’s war effort beyond what the US will publicly accept, sources tell CBS News.

Europeans also continue to argue that the war in Ukraine, the largest global war in Europe since World War II, is linked to the war in Iran because of cooperation between Russia and Iran.

A UK official told CBS News that Russian-Iranian defense cooperation has improved in recent years, and Iranian technological advances are now being seen in attacks in the Middle East. The United Kingdom checks that Iran has not only transferred Shahed drones to Moscow for use on the battlefield in Ukraine but also for production know-how to Russia, which helped Iran refine its drone warfare. A UK official could not confirm the latest transfer of hardware to Iran by Russia.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has publicly described the relationship between Russia and Iran as “bilateral cooperation.”

“There are reasons to believe that Russia is now supporting Iran’s military efforts, which seem to be aimed primarily at American targets,” Barrot said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said on social media that his country has “irrefutable evidence” that the Russians are providing intelligence and electronic intelligence capabilities to the Iranian government. On Saturday, he said an intelligence briefing showed that US military facilities in the Middle East and the Gulf region “were captured by Russian satellites for the benefit of Iran.”

In a statement posted on social media, Russian satellites captured images of the US-UK military base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, Kuwait International Airport, Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and locations in Turkey and Qatar.

In France, following the G7 meeting on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio he underestimated the cooperation between Iran and Russia.

“There is nothing that Russia is doing to Iran that interferes or interferes with our operations or their operations. This is the best way I can put it,” Rubio told reporters.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy visited the United Arab Emirates, which has close relations with Russia. He has been providing the UAE with a unique anti-drone technology used by Ukraine for self-defense purposes, as the Gulf says US bases have become Iran’s latest targets.

Multiple sources, including a senior US official with direct knowledge, he told CBS News earlier in March that Russia was providing intelligence to Iran about US positions in the Middle East. The European Union’s top official said Thursday that Russia is providing intelligence assistance to Iran to “kill Americans.”

“We see that Russia is helping Iran intelligently to target Americans, to kill Americans, and Russia is also supporting Iran now with airplanes so that it can attack neighboring countries and American military bases,” Kaja Kallas told the G7 leaders.

Also on Thursday, UK Defense Secretary John Healey told his CBS News partner BBC News that he sees “Putin’s hidden hand” behind Iran’s war efforts.

When asked about reports that Russia shares intelligence with Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told “60 Minutes” that President Trump “knew exactly who was talking to whom” and said that “anything that shouldn’t happen … is being dealt with and dealt with strongly.”

US intelligence disclosed publicly this month that there is “special cooperation” between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, driven by the common goal of “balancing US efforts and actions,” but they found it short of “aligning the enemies” of interests. A global threat assessment conducted by the US Director of National Intelligence concluded that the four countries share concerns about a direct confrontation with the US that limits the scope of their relationship.

Currently, there is a strong demand among Israel, Gulf allies and Ukraine to purchase US-made interceptors used to intercept incoming missiles.

Rubio argued that the US sale and distribution of personal protective equipment going to Ukraine did not negatively affect the need for interceptors in the Mideast. He said NATO’s approach to buying those weapons was not affected but acknowledged that the US could redirect the weapons in the future.

“If we need something in America and America, we will save it for America first. But as of now that has not happened.” Rubio said.