It's Wednesday, the 28th of October. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker from your eyes and ears on the world stage. Alright, let's get briefed. First up, a new investigation reveals evidence that Russian spy satellites may be helping Iranian proxies carry out precision strikes against Saudi oil infrastructure and military installations. And officials say Moscow's intelligence may have also played a role in attacks on American targets. Now I'd have my shocked face on, but I'm not shocked. Later in the show, Jordan launches airstrikes against Islamic state militants in southern Syria, killing more than 20 fighters in retaliation for a deadly church attack. Plus, an Israeli technology company is suspected of using digital advertising to secretly track users of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service. And it stays back the brief. British authorities charge two men in connection with an alleged Iran-linked tarot plot targeting a military base used by American forces. But first, today's PDB spotlight. Russia may be playing a much larger role in the Middle East conflict than previously understood. A new investigation by the Associated Press suggests Moscow has been using its network of spy satellites to help Iranian backed militias carry out precision attacks against Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure and military installations. And according to officials familiar with the intelligence, that assistance may have extended to attacks against American facilities as well. The investigation centers on a series of drone and missile strikes carried out over the past several months. One of the most significant occurred on the 10th of September when drones launched from Iraq struck three pumping stations along Saudi Arabia's east-west pipeline. Now, the 746-mile pipeline carries Saudi crude from the kingdom's eastern oil fields to export terminals on the Red Sea. It's become a critical alternative to the state of Hormuz, where Iranian attacks on commercial shipping continue to disrupt oil traffic. By targeting the pipeline's pumping stations, the attackers struck infrastructure essential to keeping that oil moving, temporarily interrupting operations. Then roughly a week later, another attack hit Kingfod and Air Base in the Saudi city of Taif. The Khutti attack on the Air Base damaged several hangars, and the Natalia Neurofighter Typhoon parked inside one of them. Two attacks, days apart, against very different targets. But investigators examining the strikes say they discovered something remarkable happening in the skies above both locations. According to the Associated Press, a Geneva-based intelligence firm called Aurora Geosignal Intelligence tracked Russian reconnaissance satellites operating over Saudi Arabia in the days surrounding the attacks. The firm's founder, Noof Al-Baid, says researchers examined 40 missile and drone strikes conducted by Iranian-back militias between July and October. In every case, they identified a corresponding pattern of Russian satellite activity over the targeted areas, both before and after the attacks. For the September pipeline strikes, researchers tracked 11 Russian satellites, concentrating on the sections of the pipeline that were eventually hit. And around both the pipeline and the Air Base, the firm observed a roughly 50% increase in Russian satellite activity during the relevant 3-day periods, compared with July. O'Baid believes the evidence points to Russian intelligence being used to identify targets and assess the damage afterward. Now, the researchers did not intercept any intelligence being transferred from Russia to Iran or its allies. Their findings established a pattern of satellite activity rather than direct proof of Russian participation in designing the attacks or choosing the targets. But the Associated Press also spoke with officials who described how that intelligence allegedly reaches the militants. A senior Khutti leader told the news agency that Iranian advisors with the IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, operating inside Yemen have been providing the group with targeting information derived from Russian satellites. A Saudi official familiar with investigations into the attacks described similar findings. And a private intelligence analyst said Iranian advisors used Russian reconnaissance information to develop target lists and operational guidance. In other words, the alleged arrangement works something like this. Russian satellites collect information about potential targets, Iranian advisors analyze that intelligence and pass it along to Allied militias. Those groups then use the information to guide their missiles and drones. Saudi officials have also raised concerns about intelligence assistance coming from Chinese sources, although the evidence presented in the AP investigation focuses primarily on Russia. And the allegations extend beyond attacks on Saudi oil facilities. According to a Saudi official cited in the investigation, Russian satellite intelligence also helped Iran carry out strikes earlier this year against Prince Sultan Air Base, where an American surveillance aircraft was severely damaged. The official also alleged that Russian intelligence contributed to an Iranian strike against a CIA unit inside the American embassy complex in Riyadh. Those specific allegations have not been independently verified, and Russian officials offered no immediate response while that's surprising to the associated press when asked about the findings. Russia and Iran, of course, already maintain extensive military cooperation, including the transfer of drone technology. But providing targeting intelligence would represent another potentially important dimension to that relationship. They could allow Iranian-backed groups to strike sensitive infrastructure and military assets with much greater accuracy, without possessing the sophisticated reconnaissance capabilities needed to locate those targets themselves. And it could give Moscow a way to influence the conflict and threaten Western interests without openly entering the fight. Allied coming up next, Jordan launches deadly air strikes against ISIS militants in Syria, and that an Israeli technology company is suspected of using digital advertising to spy on starling users. 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I always know where money is and what he's up to, plus tracking his activity and sleep habits. Let's me catch subtle health changes early instead of at the vet. With FI, you'll stop guessing about your pet. Get peace of mind with FI and right now, FI is offering our PDB listeners up to 30% off and free shipping when you visit FITracking.com and enter promo code PDB, that's FI, FI, tracking.com, promo code PDB. Welcome back to the PDB. The Kingdom of Jordan has launched airstrikes into neighboring Syria, targeting suspected Islamic state militants in retaliation for a deadly attack on a Christian church. Jordanian officials say the operation killed more than 20 ISIS fighters, but the strikes also left Syrian civilians dead and triggered a diplomatic dispute between the two countries. The Jordanian military carried out the strikes Monday evening, targeting what it described as terrorist hideouts in the southern Syrian provinces of Dora and Soweda near the Jordanian border. According to Jordanian officials, the operation was based on intelligence, connecting militants operating inside Syria to a massacre that took place in Jordan just three days earlier. That attack occurred Friday when gunmen opened fire on mourners attending a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan's carc to govern it, southwest of the capital Amman. The attackers reportedly fired on people gathered for the funeral, killing nine and wounding dozens more. The assault shocked Jordan, a country that's remained relatively stable, despite years of conflict and instability in neighboring Syria and Iraq. Attacks against Jordan's Christian minority are particularly rare. King Abdullah II condemned the massacre and ordered security forces to respond forcefully. By Monday, Jordanian authorities announced they had arrested three suspects, two brothers and their brother-in-law, following a confrontation with security forces. Police reportedly tracked them into an abandoned house where they refused to surrender and opened fire. All three were wounded and taken into custody. Authorities recovered firearms and ammunition, while investigators continued examining the suspect's possible connections to extremist organizations. And that brings us back to Monday's airstrikes. Jordan says its investigation uncovered links between the church attackers and the terrorist group.
groups operating across the Syrian border. It's therefore subsequently struck several suspected militant positions, with the government officials announcing Tuesday that more than 20 Islamic state fighters had been killed. Now, one important note, while Jordan identifies the militants and targeted as ISIS members, no organization has actually publicly claimed responsibility for the church massacre. There are also unanswered questions about the intelligence behind the operation. Jordanian security officials initially indicated they had found no evidence connecting the arrest and suspects to other terrorist cells, while subsequent military statements describe links to groups inside Syria. Meanwhile, the airstrikes have reportedly produced significant civilian casualties. According to Syrian civil defense, seven civilians were killed in the bombardment, including three children and a woman. Five of the victims reportedly belonged to the same family, whose own was struck in southern Syria, two elderly men were killed in separate locations. Now, Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad Al-Momani acknowledged the civilian deaths and expressed regret while maintaining that the operation targeted confirmed terrorist threats. The strikes have also created tensions between Amman and Damascus. Jordan's military initially claimed the operation was coordinated with the Syrian government, but Syrian officials disputed that account, insisting they received no advance notification or approval. Syria's foreign ministry condemned the strikes as a violation of the country's sovereignty, while authorities temporarily closed the main border crossing between the two countries. Both governments have since indicated that they intend to strengthen their security coordination, including efforts to prevent terrorist activity along their shared border. The confrontation comes as Syria's new government, led by President Al-Sharam, attempts to restore stability following the overthrow of course of Bashar al-Assad in December of 2024. For Jordan, the threat posed by ISIS is hardly new. The kingdom has been a long-time American counterterrorism partner and has repeatedly confronted extremist networks operating along its borders. You may recall back in 2015, ISIS murdered captured Jordanian fighter pilot Muath al-Kasasbe, burning him alive in a propaganda video that provoked widespread outrage across the kingdom and throughout the world. A year later, ISIS militants carried out another deadly attack in Kalk, killing security personnel on civilians. And although the terrorist organization lost its territorial caliphate years ago, its surviving networks remain active across parts of Syria and Iraq. And that is the larger security concern behind this week's developments. Jordan is determined to prevent extremist groups from using Syrian territory to organize further attacks against its citizens. Alright, next up, an Israeli advertising technology company is suspected of using online advertising networks to track users of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service. According to cybersecurity researchers, the company's unusual advertising activity across more than 100 countries suggests it may have been conducting a surveillance operation rather than a conventional advertising campaign. The company is called Discover Tech. It operates in advertising technology, but researchers suspect its business here was surveillance. An exclusive Reuters report details the findings, drawing on six people familiar with the research by Trend AI, that's a unit of Tokyo-based cybersecurity company Trend Micro. Using digital advertising data, researchers identified Discover Tech as one of the biggest sources of ads shown to Starlink users. In more than 100 countries, it ranked first among bidders for that advertising traffic, including places where the service was banned or restricted. Researchers concluded that the activity was likely intended to locate or otherwise monitor those users. In other words, they suspected Discover Tech was using online advertising infrastructure to spy on people. So, what made this look like a surveillance operation? Well, let's start with where it was buying ads. Trend AI's 15th October report described the operation as Shadow Earth 79. It did not name Discover Tech, but all six sources told Reuters that that was its internal designation for the company. The report described a quote "obvious skew" toward ads aimed at Starlink users. The operation was the top buyer of ads in Get This, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and South Sudan, and the second largest in Afghanistan. So, you may be asking what was the commercial payoff supposed to be? Well, Trend AI said quote "the demand for legitimate Western advertising in sanctioned or active conflict states is effectively zero," end quote. Yet, the operation dominated those markets. Researchers also found what they called quote "an impossibly dominant share of winning bids in Hungary, Israel, Egypt, Azerbaijan, and Venezuela." In their assessment, this looked like "targeting and tracking infrastructure," rather than a commercial advertising operation. So, how does an advertising auction become a tool for spying? Well, that's a good question, and I'm glad you asked. When you open a website or an app, advertisers can compete almost instantly to put an ad on your screen, and during that bidding process, information about you can flow back to the participating companies. Researchers at Canada's Citizen Lab and New York advertising technology from Confient say "bitters can collect that data and combine it with other records to identify otherwise anonymous users, follow them around the web, and in some cases target them with surveillance software." And that is the infrastructure that Discover Tech is accused of exploiting. Citizen Lab and Confient publicly named Discover Tech the same day that Trend AI released its report. They said ads associated with the company had appeared inside dozens of sensitive government, media, and technology networks, although it does not establish that those networks were breached. The Starlink focus carries particular stakes. SpaceX's satellite service allows users to bypass vocal internet restrictions, communicate in hostile areas, and coordinate battlefield operations. Reuters describes efforts to track its users as a growing cottage industry. In May, the Israeli newspaper Harretz and the Outlet Intelligence Online separately reported that Israeli-owned companies were marketing ways to identify and track Starlink users. Harretz said advertising data appeared to play a key role. But if Trend AI believed Discover Tech was responsible, then why did they withhold its name? Well five sources told Reuters that executives raised legal concerns, leading researchers to drop plans to identify the company. Trend AI did not directly explain that decision. It said its attribution practices aimed to reduce mistakes and avoid labels that could mislead security teams or trigger inappropriate responses. Industry experts told Reuters that fear of retaliation also drives self-sensorship in cybersecurity. But as for who commissioned the suspected operation, whether a government directed it, which users were successfully identified, well all that remains unanswered. Finally in today's back of the brief, an update on the terrorism investigation in the UK involving RAF Fairford. More on that when we come back. Hey Mike Baker here, now we've all heard those radio ads about the IRS. You know the ones I'm talking about, they tell you to be afraid and they try to frighten you into calling. Well, let me tell you something, tax relief advocates TRA is different. If you owe money to the IRS, whether it's $5,000 or $50,000 or $500,000 I hope it's not that, TRA has a solution to your tax problem. Look, don't lose hope, TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe to the IRS. Their passion is taxes and helping individuals and businesses fix their IRS problems. They have over a thousand five-star Google reviews and an A+ with a better business bureau. You do not need to be afraid of the IRS any longer. Generous tax relief programs are now available that can give you a fresh start. So don't wait. 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D-O-G underdog.com for up to 30% off after you purchase, but we'll ask where you heard about them. If you don't mind, do me a favor, tell them the PDP sent you. In today's back of the brief, two British men now face national security charges following their arrests in the suspected Iranian plot at RAF Fairford. The six other men remain out on bail as investigators work to establish who was involved and to what degree the trail leads back to the Iranian regime. British prosecutors announce the charges on Tuesday. The two men are Mohammed Abdul Kaurim and Numan Eskir, both the 24 and both the British Nationals living in London. They're charged under the United Kingdom's 2023 National Security Act. That's a law designed to combat espionage, sabotage, and other threats involving foreign powers. The case goes back to that September security scare at RAF Fairford in Western England. That's the base that has hosted American long-range bombers for years. During the war against Iran, it supported B-1 strikes against the regime. Tehran, meanwhile, had repeatedly warned that any base used to attack Iranian territory would be considered a legitimate target. On September 27, authorities detained five men near an entrance to Fairford after reports of suspicious activity. Several vehicles were parked nearby, and the response brought armed police and bomb disposal specialists to the scene. Inside three vans, driven by the suspects, officers found quantities of gasoline, but they did not report finding any explosives. All five men were initially released on bail, but police said they remained under investigation and would be monitored. Now, this is where the sequence of arrests matters. This scare was among those five men originally detained near Fairford. Police subsequently arrested other suspects, including a 25-year-old British Iranian dual national detained on October 1 and later released on bail. Then on October 20, police re-arrested this scare and the 25-year-old British Iranian dual national, this time on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence. Well, the 25-year-old has since been released without charge over the suspected intelligence offense. He remains on bail in connection with the broader investigation. Abdul-Kharim, meanwhile, was also arrested last week, and now he and Eskir other two men prosecutors have charged. Abdul-Kharim is accused of, quote, "assisting a foreign intelligence service in September through conduct, quote, likely to materially assist that service in carrying out activities related to the UK." The allegation against Eskir concerns a protected location. Others say he approached or was neared for a purpose that he knew or reasonably should have known, was, quote, "predjudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom. You just have to love legalese." Prosecutors have not publicly named the Foreign Intelligence Service in Abdul-Kharim's charge. Police, however, have linked the arrests to suspected assistance to Iranian intelligence. British officials have already pointed toward Tehran. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said his government believes Iran, quote, "played apart in the Fairford incident." The Iranian Embassy, no surprise, and London has rejected that accusation. And following the incident outside the base, the U.S. Air Force removed all of its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford. And that, my friends, is the President's daily brief for Wednesday, the 28th of October. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at
[email protected]. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
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