The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kane, said Russia is providing assistance to Iran amid Tehran’s confrontation with the US, according to remarks made during a US Senate hearing on Thursday.
Speaking at a public session of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kane told lawmakers that Russian President Vladimir Putin is supporting Iran’s military efforts, British newspaper The Guardian reported.
Kane declined to provide details about the nature of Russia’s assistance, citing the open setting of the hearing, but said: “There is definitely some action going on there.”
The committee’s chairman, Republican Senator Roger Wicker, agreed with Kane’s assessment.
“There is no doubt that Putin’s Russia is taking serious steps to undermine our efforts to achieve success in Iran,” Wicker said.
The comments follow earlier statements by US President Donald Trump, who said in March that Putin may be helping Iran.
In April, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States was overlooking what he described as convincing evidence of Russian assistance to Iranian attacks on American bases in the Middle East because Washington “trusts” Putin.
Russia and Iran have significantly expanded military and strategic cooperation in recent years, including in the context of Moscow’s war against Ukraine and Tehran’s regional activities.
Recently, Putin voiced strong support for Tehran in its conflict with the US and Israel as he met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in St. Petersburg on Monday.
The meeting came as Moscow and Tehran underlined their strategic partnership, with Araqchi saying Iran remained “stable, solid and powerful” despite the war.
Neither the Kremlin nor Iran have publicly commented on Kane’s remarks.