Name: Hegseth on reports of Russia sharing intelligence with Iran: "No one's putting us in danger"
Uploaded: 2026-03-07T21:41:52.000Z
Duration: 4 min 47 s
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Sources tell CBS News Russia is providing intelligence to Iran about US Positions in the Middle East.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responded to this report on this Sunday, 60 Minutes, in an exclusive interview with our major Garrett.

We have the best intelligence in the world.

We're aware of who's talking to who, why they're talking to him, how accurate that information might be, how we factor that into our battle plans, our CENTCOM commander, so we know what's going on.

And the president has an incredible knack at knowing how to mitigate those risks.

And so the American people can rest assured their commander in chief is well aware of who's talking to who.

And anything that shouldn't be happening, whether it's in public or back channeled, is being confronted and confronted strongly.

The American people can therefore expect conversations with the Russians to stop this.

Well, President Trump, as people have seen, has a unique relationship with a lot of world leaders, where he can get things done that other presidents, certainly Joe Biden, never could have.

And through direct conversations or indirect through him one to one, or through his cabinet, messages definitely can be delivered.

Does this put US Personnel in any more danger than they otherwise would be?

Well, the Russian involvement, no one's putting us in danger.

For more on Russia's involvement, CBS News national security contributor Samantha Vinograd joins us now.

She is a former assistant secretary for counterterrorism at the Department of Homeland Security.

So we have this information about the Kremlin leaking information to Iran about US Positions.

How does this make an impact on our military effort?

Well, Adriana, I fear that it's less the Kremlin leaking information to the Iranian regime and more the Kremlin utilizing long established intelligence sharing mechanisms with the Iranian regime, with the Iranian intelligence services.

And the Russians do have very advanced intel collection capabilities, particularly particularly when it comes to satellite imagery.

So what it tells us is this, the Russians are giving the Iranians information that they wouldn't otherwise have.

That does disadvantage, even if to a smaller degree, that does disadvantage US Forces more so than if Russia wasn't engaging in this behavior.

Now, as the secretary of War indicated, the United States does have very advanced force protection mechanisms, but

the Russians are undoubtedly increasing the threat to American service members.

The outstanding question, of course, is whether President Trump will take action to punish Russia for this and whether this war, which the administration isn't calling a war.

But if there's any way to contain more actors from becoming involved.

This campaign was never just going to be about the United States, Israel and Iran.

Russia is now involved, according to this reporting.

There's additional reporting China may become involved and certainly the Gulf states are are implicated as they're being struck by Iranian aerial assets.

Sam, what did you make of Defense Secretary Pete Hesitates, telling our Major Garrett, no one's putting us in danger.

I think that is not quite an accurate analysis of what's happening.

The Russians providing information on US Service members to the Iranians undoubtedly puts US Forces again, even if it's a small degree, in more danger.

I'm glad to hear the Secretary of War saying that they're not in more danger.

Ostensibly, that means that force protection mechanisms are very strong.

But whenever an adversary has more information and more intelligence on US Service members, that's never a good thing.

So I hope the Secretary of War was referring to these strong force protection measures we have in place.

But I don't quite see how the Russians sharing information on US Forces doesn't put them in more danger.

And Iran is saying that they're not going to back down.

They said that they're going to strike Americans and Israelis.

What should Americans know about any threats here at home?

The Iranians are going to the regime is going to continue making bombastic statements about their plans for retaliation here at home.

Americans should be aware that there is a physical threat from Iran and the surrogate networks it's developed here.

They should also be aware that there's a real cyber threat.

We have in the past seen the Iranian regime rely on cyber tactics to cause disruption, to hack and leak information and more.

And we should also be aware the Iranian regime has a history of what we call influence operations, trying to manipulate the information that Americans are consuming.

So think before you click links, think before you retweet content, and

certainly in your physical surroundings, be aware of what's happening around you.

And if you see anything suspicious, reach out to law enforcement.