US intelligence claims Russian President Vladimir Putin asked | /CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

US intelligence claims Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Saudi Arabia permission to arm Yemen's Houthis with cruise missiles

The fears of what current and former US officials described to Middle East Eye as "secondary" and "tertiary" effects of an Israeli ground attack on Hezbollah are being driven by US intelligence that claims Russia is considering stepping up its support for Iran's so-called Axis of Resistance.

In Yemen, Russian President Vladimir Putin has considered providing Houthi rebel fighters with anti-ship ballistic cruise missiles, a senior US official told MEE, citing intelligence, and speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive report.

The notion is not unprecedented. In November, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Wagner group, a Russian paramilitary, planned to provide Lebanon's Hezbollah with a Russian air defence system.

"If Israel attacks inside Lebanon it would likely prompt a further deepening of the military relationship that Iran has with Russia in order to help Hezbollah defend itself," William Usher, a former senior Middle East analyst at the CIA, told MEE.

“Russia could already be thinking about how it would assist the Houthis.”

"Putin sees the US responsible for Ukrainian attacks on Russian vessels in the Black Sea. It is possible he could see doing something in the Red Sea as payback."

But Fabian Hinz, an expert on ballistic and cruise missiles at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that between the Houthis and Russia, supply and demand matches.

“If I was the Houthis, supersonic cruise missiles would be very high-up on my shopping list,” Hinz said. “And the Russians have quite good supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles.”

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-officials-concerned-israeli-offensive-hezbollah-could-drag-russia