The Sanctions Boomerang

By Rachel Hurley March 16th, 2026 Updated September 29th, 2026

Russia helps Iran kill Americans, and we reward them with an oil deal

I’m not sure why more people aren’t talking about this.

Russia is reportedly giving Iran the locations of American warships, aircraft, and military bases in the Middle East.

The drones Iran is using to hit those bases? Russia taught them how to use those more effectively, too, sharing the specific attack strategies they perfected bombing Ukraine for four years. Six American soldiers died on March 1st when an Iranian drone hit a makeshift command center in Kuwait. Dozens more were wounded, some with brain trauma, burns, shrapnel. At least one may lose a limb.

The Trump administration’s next move was a 30-day pause on sanctions for Russian oil already loaded on tankers.

Russia is reportedly helping Iran target our troops. Our troops are dying. And within days, we’re cutting Russia a check. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Russia could benefit marginally for a “micro period,” which was “unfortunate.”

Unfortunate. Like it’s a rainy day at a barbecue and not a country actively helping kill American soldiers getting rewarded with a massive financial lifeline.

Here’s what happened.

On March 6th, the Washington Post reported that Russia was providing Iran with intelligence on the locations of American forces. CNN followed up days later with a Western intelligence source confirming Russia was giving Iran advanced drone tactics, the same ones Moscow spent years developing against Ukraine. These aren’t vague allegations from anonymous bloggers. Multiple officials familiar with the intelligence confirmed it to the Washington Post, CNN, and others, speaking anonymously.

When a Fox News reporter asked Trump about it, he snapped at him. Called it a stupid question. When Pete Hegseth was asked how Russian intelligence helping Iran target American bases made him feel, he said he wasn’t concerned. “The only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re gonna live.”

Meanwhile, the actual Americans in the line of fire were sitting in a triple-wide trailer in Kuwait with, according to sources, basically zero drone defense capability. Two sources told CBS there was no American system at the port that could shoot down incoming drones. Kuwait had interceptors nearby, but it’s not clear they were used. Sources told CBS and CNN they heard no warning sirens the morning of the actual attack, even though the siren had worked all week.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, said the U.S. was taking Russia “at their word” that they weren’t helping Iran. This was after officials familiar with the intelligence had already told the Washington Post that Russia was passing Iran targeting information.

Then, on March 11th, Putin’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev flew to Florida to meet with Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and a White House advisor named Josh Gruenbaum. Dmitriev thanked them for “a productive meeting.” Witkoff said the teams “discussed a variety of topics and agreed to stay in touch.” The next day, the Treasury Department announced a 30-day waiver allowing countries to buy roughly 124 million barrels of Russian oil currently sitting on tankers at sea. That’s about $10 billion worth, according to Zelenskyy.

Dmitriev, who is basically Putin’s bag man for these things, went on Telegram the day after the meeting - before the waiver was even announced - and gloated. He said the U.S. was “beginning to better understand the key, systemic role of Russian oil and gas” and “the ineffectiveness and destructive nature of sanctions against Russia.” Once the waiver dropped, he posted on X that “EU bureaucrats will soon be forced to recognize this reality, acknowledge their strategic blunders, and atone.” He also went after “UK warmongers” who “oppose oil market stability and peace,” saying “energy markets will punish them.”

Russia’s daily oil revenue has already jumped 14% since the Iran war started. They’re pulling in about $588 million a day from oil and gas exports. The sanctions that were finally starting to squeeze them, the ones that had driven Russian oil prices down to $40 a barrel by December, are now being peeled back because the war in Iran that Russia is profiting from created an energy crisis that gave Russia leverage to demand sanctions relief.

If you’re having trouble following that, don’t worry, the circular logic is the whole point. Russia helps Iran attack American soldiers. The Iran war disrupts global oil markets. Oil prices spike. The U.S. panics about gas prices before midterm elections. The U.S. lifts sanctions on Russian oil to bring prices down. Russia makes more money. Russia uses that money to continue its war in Ukraine and presumably to keep helping Iran.

Senator Brian Schatz summed it up pretty perfectly on X: “Looks like we fought Iran and Russia won.”

The European response has been furious. Macron said the situation “in no way justifies lifting sanctions” on Russia. Germany’s Merz called it “the wrong course of action.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said now was not the time to relax sanctions. Even Zelenskyy pointed out the obvious, that the money Russia earns from energy sales goes directly to weapons being used against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukraine, the country we’ve been slow-walking weapons to for four years, is the one that actually showed up to help defend American bases. Zelenskyy sent counter-drone teams to the Gulf. Zelenskyy says Ukraine has fielded 11 requests - from Iran’s neighbors, European states and the U.S. - for its interceptor drones and counter-drone know-how, the same cheap, effective systems they built to counter the exact drones Russia taught Iran how to use. The irony is so thick you could choke on it.

The whole thing has a very specific smell. The kind where your buddy helps your enemy jump you, and then you go buy your buddy lunch because he’s the only restaurant open. And your buddy sits there eating his steak telling everyone at the table how grateful you should be that he agreed to let you pay.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen nailed the dynamic: as Putin helps Iran target Americans, the president is filling the Kremlin’s war coffers. Instead of squeezing Russia’s already faltering economy, this war is handing Putin a windfall while American families pay higher prices at the pump.

I keep waiting for someone to explain this in a way that doesn’t sound insane. Nobody has yet.

Sources

Correction, September 28th, 2026: This essay first said U.S. officials confirmed Russia’s intelligence sharing on the record - they spoke anonymously. It also said both sides called the Florida meeting “productive” - only Dmitriev did - that the oil waiver came less than 24 hours later, when it came the next day, and that Dmitriev’s Telegram post came after the waiver, when it came before. And it misquoted Dmitriev and Germany’s Merz, and quoted the European Commission president saying Russia should “absolutely not benefit” - her reported words were that now was not the time to relax sanctions.

Update, September 28th, 2026: A few lines now say who says so - the targeting help is reported by officials speaking anonymously, and the missing drone defenses and silent sirens come from sources who talked to CBS and CNN - and the lines on the wounded, the 30-day pause, Bessent’s comment, Dmitriev’s warning to the U.K. and Ukraine’s drone requests now match the reporting.