The US Congress Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa will study the Iran-Russia Cooperation Reporting Act. Sponsor of the bill, Republican Mike Pompeo, wants the Pentagon to be legally bound to submit to Congress an annual report on cooperation between Moscow and Tehran. “This bill directs the Department of Defense to report to Congress annually on cooperation between Iran and Russia, and how and to what extent such cooperation affects US national security and strategic interests,” according to the Congress website. The report shall include matters related to a number of Iran-Russia cooperation fields, including the intelligence-sharing center established by Iran, Russia and Syria in Baghdad, naval cooperation between Iran and Russia, Russian cooperation with Hezbollah in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq as well as overlapping Russia-Iran interests in Latin America. It also mentions the “likelihood of Iran adopting the Russian model of hybrid warfare against potential targets such as the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council states” and a “list of weapons the sale of which by Russia to Iran would violate UN Security Council resolutions imposing an arms embargo on Iran”, according to the bill’s summary.
