US President Donald Trump said in an interview aired Friday that he suspected Russian leader Vladimir Putin was aiding Iran in the war against the United States and Israel.
“I think he might be helping him a little bit, yeah, I guess. And he probably thinks we’re helping Ukraine, right?” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Radio.
Several US media outlets have reported that Russia has provided targeting information to Iran for attacking US forces during the ongoing conflict.
Trump’s remarks came as US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington and Israel had already struck more than 15,000 targets since launching an air campaign against Iran on February 28.
“Between our air force and that of the Israelis, over 15,000 enemy targets have been struck. That’s well over 1,000 a day,” Hegseth told reporters, adding that Friday would see the highest volume of strikes so far.
Hegseth said the campaign had sharply degraded Iran’s ability to retaliate.
Iran’s “missiles, their missile launchers and drones (are) being destroyed or shot out of the sky,” he said, adding that the volume of missile attacks had fallen by 90 percent and drone strikes by 95 percent.
He also said Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “wounded and likely disfigured” following the February 28 attack that killed his father.
Iranian officials have confirmed the younger Khamenei was wounded but have given no details, and he has not appeared in public since assuming the country’s top post.
The conflict has triggered turmoil in global energy markets after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow Gulf waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supply normally flows.
Oil prices surged above $100 a barrel earlier this week, while stock markets have wobbled amid fears of a prolonged disruption.
Hegseth dismissed concerns that the crisis in the strait could become a long-term problem.
“They are exercising sheer desperation in the Straits of Hormuz, something we’re dealing with, we have been dealing with it, and don’t need to worry about it,” he said.
Iranian officials have vowed to keep the pressure on shipping through the strategic choke point, warning that the conflict could escalate if attacks on the country continue.
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