Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump on Saturday downplayed reports that Russia may have shared intelligence with Iran to help target American forces in the Middle East, saying such information was “not helping Iran much” as the conflict continues to escalate.Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while travelling to Miami, Trump suggested that even if Moscow had provided Tehran with targeting information, it had made little difference on the battlefield.“I hope they are not. If you take a look at what’s happened to Iran in the last week, if they’re getting information, it’s not helping them much,” Trump said.The US president did not confirm reports that American intelligence agencies believe Russia may have provided Iran with information to target US military personnel and assets in the region.However, he indicated that even if such intelligence sharing had taken place, Iran had gained little from it.When asked whether Russian assistance to Iran could affect the US-Russia relationship, Trump dismissed the concern.“They’d say we do it against them,” Trump responded. “Wouldn’t they say that we do it against them?”Trump made the remarks after attending the dignified transfer ceremony for six US Army reservists who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait, a day after the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran.The week-old conflict has rapidly escalated across the Middle East, rattling global markets and raising concerns about energy supplies.Trump’s comments also came days after the US Treasury Department announced a 30-day waiver allowing India to continue purchasing crude oil and petroleum products from Russia.The decision drew criticism from lawmakers in Washington.Democratic Representative Ted Lieu of California criticised the move in a post on X, urging the administration to reverse the decision.“Reverse your decision to lift oil sanctions on Russia. It is traitorous conduct for you to help Russia,” Lieu said. “Meanwhile, Russia is assisting Iran in targeting American troops.”However, India has maintained that it does not require permission from any country to buy Russian oil.According to a senior government official quoted by PTI, the US waiver merely removes friction rather than shaping India’s energy policy.The Iran conflict has also sent global oil prices sharply higher. The war has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage that carries about 20 million barrels of oil per day from the Persian Gulf to global markets.With ships unable to safely navigate the route and key energy facilities damaged in the region, supplies from some of the world’s largest oil producers have been affected.
Trump rules out using strategic oil reserve
When asked whether the United States would tap its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to ease rising oil prices, Trump appeared to dismiss the idea for now.“We’ve got a lot of oil. Our country has a tremendous amount,” Trump said. “There’s a lot of oil out there. That’ll get healed very quickly.”The reserve currently holds more than 415 million barrels of crude oil, though its total capacity exceeds 700 million barrels.Trump also suggested he was open to other steps to stabilise prices if needed, saying “If there were some, I would do it, just to take a little of the pressure off.”
